GB2379522A

GB2379522A - Methods of maintaining action and interaction coherence across differentiated media channels by preserving end-to-end integrity across multiple boundaries.

Info

Publication number: GB2379522A
Application number: GB0113607A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gordon Ross
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-06-05
Filing date: 2001-06-05
Publication date: 2003-03-12
Also published as: GB0113607D0

Abstract

In a world of increasing volume and speed of data delivery, management and assimilation of information present ever-greater challenges. A novel method is presented for data presentation and navigation based on shred information categorisation, and its iterative application to build information structures. As discrete and differentiated information channels become more integrated a paradigm shift is required for co-ordination, distribution and interaction of information, which the method provides. New agents and elements are introduced to cope with information volumes, segmentation, and duplication. New methods for dealing with information flows and volumes are identified, and ways are described for achieving harmonious and integrated information flows. This method provides a basis for interactive services, including e-commerce associated with information flows and related transactions. The realisation of better solutions requires co-operation across existing boundaries. The methods described go some way towards standards for compound document interchange, and interactive working.

Description

Methods for Maintaining Action and Interaction Coherence across Differentiated Media Channels by Preserving End-to-End User Integrity across Multiple Boundaries Scope of the Invention The present invention relates to methods that maintain user integrity across multiple activities and devices by creating shared structured information frameworks and maintaining consistent and persistent links with end users across a variety of media channels and diverse electronic devices. The method makes possible interchanges between individuals, groups, documents and devices. The method covers the communications, community and commerce enabled by such structuring, sharing and co-ordination, 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 i 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 Information and knowledge are increasingly important in both advanced and less advanced countries. In the Global Economy it is knowledge combined with action that is the source of power. There is no doubt information is becoming ubiquitous. From the moment we wake in the morning thorough to bedtime, people are bombarded with information. It comes from a variety of sources, physical like newspapers, magazines and books, and electronic, through television, radio, pervasive computers and the Internet, mobile devices and other computing and information infrastructures.

In this multiplicity of channels the needs of the user are easily forgotten. Yet data streams only become information and knowledge when individuals assimilate them into cognitive schemas. Therefore, to a great extent, the most important consideration in information delivery and dissemination is the ease with which individuals interact with information and transaction streams. Dealing with the multiplicity of information channels in a manner that users find acceptable provides significant challenges, especially as solutions cut across existing organisational and commercial boundaries.

With the strength of the technological imperative, (technology will eventually solve all problems no matter what they are), individual end users are all too often overlooked and neglected. In part this is due to a lack of appreciation of the evolution of many of the apparently technical developments we enjoy today. The windowing user interface, the mouse point and click interaction, and the display of icons to

represent information elements all go back to research from the mid 1960's onwards, most especially at the Xerox PARC facilities. Subsequently this original Xerox research was exploited at Apple, and then at Microsoft.

At the time the Xerox researchers may have lacked the appreciation of the trends towards affordable computing power to process multi-media and pervasive content, so their research frameworks need to be extended in the light of the computing advances and multi-media developments.

This early research focused as much on the needs of users and how they interact with information as on technology to meet those needs. The lasting success of those early developments is testimony to the insights and creativity of those early researchers looking at how users interact within information within a knowledge environment. If we fail to recognise the importance of this user priority then expensive mistakes can be made in designing, developing and deploying the next generation of information technology infrastructures, appliances and applications.

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 threedimensional space for hierarchical information organisation. Egger et a ! (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.

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 invention the structuring of information at source, along dimensions of content, community and computing and communications, has not been applied, 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. I 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). This novel approach is relevant to any organisation o enterprise that is 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 an example of news agency automation shows (Ross and Ioannou 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, so that millions of users could exploit the content without the need for sophisticated search algorithms, or at the time expensive 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.

For example Agrawal et al (1997 US Patent 5,647, 058) shows how multi-media 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.

This logical approach has little relevance to the 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 process 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.

Content conversion Searching and selection deal with the retrieval of information but another part of the information cycle concerns electronic publishing in different forms. This may relate to content conversion for documents or for full electronic publishing systems.

There have been attempts at establishing automated routings for translating documents for one format to another, normally for automated dispatch to different devices. For example attention has been paid to the customisation of web content for different devices, as two Patents Applications from IBM indicates (1999, GB 2 331 600 and 2000, GB 2 346 238) The former addresses the customisation of web pages based on requester type, to differentiate the capabilities of different display devices such as personal computers, Personal Digital Assistants, mobile phones and so on.

And the second explores how XML tools can be applied to tailoring Web pages in other style formats such as SGML and HTML. In both instances only one part of a process cycle is addressed, divorced from the psychological processes of senders and receivers and so whilst relevant to the transformation of static Web pages they have little relevance to the current novel invention which deals with all phases of the human-content-computer cycle.

Another example of document conversion comes from Spyglass (1999), where conversion and compression takes place on the fly between devices and users on networks, once the conversion preferences of users, documents, and devices is a known factor. The alternative proposed in the current novel method of having more inclusive documents with a variety of embedded formats for different devices, authored in at the source and creation of the document is not given consideration, despite this being a much more straightforward process. With an effective document content structure the requirement for conversion disappears, and new and novel components can easily be introduced into pre-existing document content architectures by reference to existing elements and relationships. Another feature of structured

document content architecture is that users can always request full details of the content even if the device they are using is not totally appropriate. Control is therefore retained by the user rather than being delegated to servers and computing algorithms and software in the infrastructure.

There are commercial examples of content re-formatters, for example Online Anywhere (www. onany. com) have developed server software to allow content publishers to extract and compress content for devices less sophisticated that a full personal computer. Likewise Avantgo (www. avantgo. com) provides tailored services for portable and light devices, but in neither case is the ability to tailor the content built into the document structure. One novel feature of the current method is the same iterative structure is used for both content creation and navigation, as well as being involved in the sharing of information structures between providers and receivers of information.

Electronic publishing Methods and systems for electronic publishing have largely restricted themselves to the two-dimensional nature of documents, for example, Time Base Pty (Patent WO 98/34179), where documents are decomposed into discrete elements, and version control is applied as elements change over time. Earlier elements co-exist with later elements so users can track changes. But again the human and cognitive processes of categorisation are absent, so although there is a proposal for intra-document tagging with SGML, HTML and XML tags, and inter-document tagging with Document Type Definitions (DTD) and Style Sheet Mechanisms (SSM), there is no process for the continual production of content streams delivered to shared cognitive and content categories.

The databases in question are hierarchical and so cannot deal with overlapping categories, and the focus is on post creation content analysis of documents, not on their pre-classification, categorisation and structuring. There is no relationship between document creation and the end-user activities associated subsequently with the document and these two phases share no common elements. Again our novel method and process goes further.

With the developments and growth of the Web there are numerous inventions relating to the automated production of content for different audiences and devices. Again the elements are treated as two dimensional flat structures, albeit with hypertext linking, and solutions focus inwards on computer processing, rather than on the psychological relationships between user, computer and content. Dimarco and Foster (1999 Patent WO 99/08205) address the opportunity for creating versions of multimedia documents for different audiences, with variations of both content and presentation through a process of adaptive generation from a"master"document. The master document contains information on the relevance of particular blocks and structures of text, and by combining this with a set of parameters generated for any particular audience a novel document can in theory be produced.

Again there is a disregard for the psychological and social processes of sharing information structures. Nor is there any consideration of the process of generating streams of information for distribution to pre-classified structures. Instead the

computer system is solely able to generate customised versions of documents from a totally closed system. This limitation is overcome in the novel method and process described here.

Further in the Dimarco and Foster method crucially there is no consideration and no scope for sending multiple versions of the same generic document to the same individual via discrete information channels, and co-ordinating the receipt of such to avoid unnecessary information duplication and redundancy whilst ensuring he recipient gets the information required in a timely manner. This neglect of the psychological processes in the end-to-end delivery cycle, with human input at both sender and receiver points, using an iterative structure for content structuring and navigation are limitations in the Dimarco and Foster model. In addition whilst the phase pf authoring of documents is addressed, their subsequent processing, packaging, dispatch, receipt, navigation and storage are all neglected elements of the end-to-end cycle. These are all features of the current novel invention. Finally the components in the Dimarco and Foster model are arranged in a hierarchy of predetermined relationships thereby excluding its relevance to the non-hierarchical categorisations described in the current method and process and structure Network-centric application services Important as individual characteristics such as browsing, navigation and information retrieval are in their own right, it is equally important how the various factors are combined in the delivery of services. Certain inventions have therefore sought to provide innovations for more than one element of an information cycle. So for instance, Davies et al (1996 WO 96/23265) examine a method for accessing information using an agent-based access system using keywords combined with a profile of potential user interests. This is designed to overcome the richness of information provision over the Internet where the lack of central monitoring and control hinders users getting the information they seek when and where they require it. Their so-called"JASPER"agents (Joint Access to Stored Pages with Easy Retrieval) stores meta-information to provide a pointer on or index to information when a retrieval request is made.

Again there is an emphasis on information retrieval rather than, as in the current novel method, the notion that relevant information is already there, available and accessible.

With the differentiation between categorisations (the structure), populations of items within the category (the items), and movement around the structure (navigation and personalisation), there is no requirement for retrieval until and unless the user wants to go outside the paradigm and method and actually engage user-instigated retrieval.

If and when they do there are a variety of established methods for doing this which are outside of the scope of the focus of this current novel method.

Another more holistic approach to human-content interaction can be found in Olsson (1999), where again the focus is on how to automatically or semi-automatically find and retrieve information for a user according to his preferences. In this case the information is identified through the exchange of so-called"relevance"agents.

Rather than undertake filtering and retrieval using content analysis of material, or on the basis of others recommendations of items of potential relevance, the method

proposed by Olsson is to use a combination of methods. By relying on two agents a "collection"agent, and a"selection"agent, with the former placing documents in a central repository, from which the latter retrieves potential matches of documents and user interests for presentation to the user. "Interface" Agents are required to capture the different interests of a user, and since each user can have multiple"Interest" agents, each with a list of other interest agents the logistics of realisation can be seen to be excessively complex. Such complexity is generated by attempts to do with computer calculations what users in the current method do naturally, which is to categorise and select information according to those categorisations. There is no need to postulate the existence of multiple agents, as they are not required if, as with the present method, human cognitive and social abilities are combined with computing capabilities in a more sympathetic manner. Agents are redundant in a situation where information is not retrieved from an amorphous mass, but is packaged and selected with human cognitive abilities playing a part at both sender and receiver points. The novel method proposed here requires only one process, the same process, at sender and receiver ends, and so according to Occam's Razor is a more likely explanation.

Agents also figure large in a system and method for co-ordination and control of information supply proposed by British Telecommunications (1998 European Patent EP 0 967 545 Al). Again the method uses a variety of agents in a distributed environment, with information being passed back and forth between agents to ensure the user gets the information they are searching for. Since each agent is seen to perform a particular task there is again a requirement for a multitude of agents, and again with such a multitude there is a requirement for a multitude of co-ordinating agents and processes. The very complexity of the process hides the requirement for a simple iterative method and process that handles all the different aspects of the information cycle. Logically if, as in the present proposed method, one single process can handle a multitude of different activities at both sender and receiver ends there is no need to postulate the existence of multiple interacting agents, By taking a more broad view of the information cycle, including both information sender and information receiver, and by postulating processes shared by both and iteratively applied to different components of the information cycle the whole situation becomes very much easier to explain, predict, control and exploit.

Structure For some reason there seems to be an avoidance of consideration of"structure"within Internet development, and this absence is concerning. Structure seems to have be equated with tradition and establishment whilst the Internet by its very design has developed in an anti-establishment, or anti-structure manner. Yet structure, by itself, is neutral, so the issue becomes whether any degree of such structure is useful. That structure exists at the heart of the World Wide Web is indisputable. It is only because there is general consensus about the rules of operation that the internet works.

Without uniform rules of application it would be impossible to exchange information.

The issue therefore become whether some element of structuring would also be useful at the higher levels of activity, relating to information and applications as well as at the lower levels relating to transport, interconnection and inter-operability. In the present novel method, structure is at the heart of the method and process, and whilst

the method is not intended to cover the whole of Internet activity, it is relevant to processes relating to information, presentation, navigation, processing, interaction, transaction and storage.

Communications with persistent connectivity It is somewhat surprising that since the Internet is all about content and communications that there are not more Patent Applications about communications methods and processes. Content and Search algorithms are relatively well catered for in comparison.

One Patent on Service Provision Systems for Communications Networks (British Telecom 1995 WO 95/30317 examines the potential for service provisioning across both fixed and mobile networks. By exploiting software agents in the different network domains they show how service provisioning and maintenance is enhanced with a series of distributed and relatively independent agents. Unfortunately the methods do not cover content, navigation and services (as distinct from service) provisioning. Nor do the methods cover persistent connectivity with one or more networks and so important potential innovations are ignored. Like much of the rest of the literature, the basic Internet model of"connect to a URL, extra the needed information and then drop the connection" is adopted.

Locality in content retrieval and communication Locality has often been neglected in dealing with human-computer interaction although there have been attempts to overcome some of the shortcomings. One approach is to segment large databases, for targeted marketing and promotional activities amongst other things. For example Saxe 1997 (US Patent number 5,636, 346) establishes correspondence links between households on interactive cable networks, and the delivery of relevant and specific information to target households.

By using a unique electronic address for each household a degree of privacy is preserved.

Patent WO/22495 (2000) uses sophisticated computing algorithms to determine whether or not specific information should be sent to specific locations as based on geography (or inferred geography) of the receiving device.

And Chomet (1987, US Patent 4,645, 873) establishes method for linking databases with geography in a proposed national database with a plurality of databases each with local information, and with interrelationships between each of the databases, so that individuals can select, to an extent, the information they consider relevant to them. And sending e-mail information to specific groups of individuals is addressed by International Patent WO 00/20975 (2000).

Although these approaches go some way towards improving the situation, they are still dealing with the symptoms of the difficulty and not the underlying cause, which is the lack of encompassing frameworks and methods for dealing with information, as distinct from data. Indeed, the profound nature of the weaknesses inherent in current

structures can be revealed in even a brief consideration of the Internet data transmission methods. Information is transmitted through a variety of computers using Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, yet this is not geography specific and this can lead to delays in packed transmission.

Digital Island (2000, WO 00/38381) proposes ways of adding geographic cues to routing to make packet delivery more rapid and secure. This anarchic approach to information, in contrast to the more structured routes followed by telecommunications links, was one of the design criteria to make the Internet infrastructure"disaster proof. Those who designed the Internet could not have foreseen its popularity, and for there to be an evolution in functionality and usability there needs to be an evolution of some of the design features. The database structures that relate to social groups and personal interests is on important area in such an evolution and the present invention is designed to support different types of individual and group interactions.

With the explosion of electronic communication there has been a fragmentation in the naming conventions for electronic communication within an overall loose framework.

There are a multitude of addressing schemes with little or no correspondence between electronic location and physical location making delivery and retrieval of geographically and other locally focused segmented services difficult. Administration of such services is also becoming an increasingly high overhead.

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.

Multiple classifications One of the largest limitations of the prior art is they have limited themselves to strictly logical approaches to classification and display, and have ignored the psychological opportunities. Logically the same element cannot be in more than one place at the same time, yet psychological it is possible for elements and categories to enjoy multiple positions in multiple categories at one and the same time. Art, laughter and many other aspects of human behaviour exploit this capability of multiple categorisation, yet computing innovations largely ignore it because it is difficult to deal with in totally automated manner. Instead human cognitive and creative processes need to be involved in the classification and categorisation.

So for example, Agrawal et al (1998 US Patent 5,799, 300) provide an efficient method for selecting and combining data elements within a data cube, but only where the same item cannot appear in multiple categories or positions in the data cube at the same time. Similarly Pooser and Pooser (1998 US Patent 5,812, 134) provide techniques for users to navigate hierarchical information spaces within databases. This has the advantage of allowing the user to view the logical relationships between particular units and the overall structure, but is not able to deal with the psychological processes involved where the are multiple, non-exclusive, overlapping and simultaneous relationships between elements.

Similar limitations of a focus on only logical relationships applies to Agrawal et al (1998 US Patent 5,832, 475) in their work on"Group-by"operations within data cubes, and that by Cline et al (1999 US Patent 5,900, 880) which explores how to create surfaces with visual perspectives from mathematical calculations of points within surfaces and cubes. In neither these nor other cases is there any process for the creation of psychological, not logical, entities with the creation of data tied to its presentation and navigation through the application of iterative base building blocks as there is in the current novel invention.

Where more attention is given to the human component in human-computer interaction, as in the invention of a navigation method in 3D computer-generated pictures by 3D image manipulation (Benayoun 2000, WO 00/42495), there is no differentiation of the content into psychological categories and classes and no link between the navigation device and the elements being navigated other than that both are in the same 3 dimensional space. Again a process tracking the whole information cycle, using the iterative application of components is absent.

Distinct, non-overlapping data groups have allowed post-hoc regrouping and reclassification according to the data descriptors and elements, but only within the prestructured dimensions and only with mutually exclusive grouping. In the current invention the groups or categories can not only be overlapping but the category elements are themselves filled from occasional continuous or media streaming events and activities such that the composition of the categories is ever changing, and individual items can appear in a number of distinct and separate categories.

To date there has been only limited exploitation of this basic human characteristic of multiple overlapping categorisations in the design of human-computer interfaces.

There have been applications of multidimensional cubes for the display (Hitachi 1997) and for the storage and retrieval of data elements, but these have concerned method of display or speed of access along single dimensions not multiple overlapping and interacting dimensions. And nor has there been an attempt in prior history to apply the same structure and process and method to all elements of an information cycle including creation, transmission, retrieval, navigation and storage.

There have been many inventions that relate to multi-dimensional forms of computer representation, but these have tended to ignore the human perceptual and cognitive elements, or these have been restricted to hierarchical forms of information processing, or both. These limitations are overcome with this novel method and process What is clear is that with the proliferation of computer systems in so many areas of life we now have in advanced countries a situation where an individuals details are help in a multitude of databases. With Tax and Social Security records, Health, Home and Bank details all held on different and sometimes incompatible computer systems, no where is there a"picture"of the whole individual. With the sophistication of

today's computer systems, and their ability to track detailed transactions, many would iCu auttit, t,, e+ UUY y Li a%, Z% l L,'LljlLe%. L Lr LLWAIO, argue that a co-ordinated series of databases would be an intrusion on privacy and civil liberties. Even so, the lack of structured frames of reference for organising information relating to individuals, their physical location, personal interests, social and virtual groups hinders interaction, communication and exploitation.

Integration Important as the individual elements are in any method, process, or solution, more important in the overall quality of the experience is the degree of integration between different components, and how effectively they inter-work one with another. Because the method and process described here uses a minimum number of components that are iteratively applied the degree of integration between the elements is higher than it would be otherwise. This is important in achieving an appropriate user experience.

Quality of integration will also impact ease of use and speed of learning which are both important factors in gaining acceptance for new and novel methods and processes.

End-to-end services delivery By encompassing both the senders of information and the receivers of content in the method and process described here, and by using the same component methods and processes repeatedly at different stages of the information cycle, not only does this novel method and process deal with content creation, delivery, navigation and exploitation, but further the method incorporates from the outset the concept of end to end service quality. It is only because the cognitive and information structures are shared by senders and receivers that the method and process can be sustained and evolve, and such sharing has within it the possibility of notions and metrics for service quality. Without persistent links, and without shared information structures, and processes, service quality measures are difficult or impossible to establish. The novel method proposed here is therefore important in establishing end to end service quality and metrics.

Problem Nowhere are the dangers of a lack of user focus more apparent than in the potential confusions from information overload created by a multiplicity of media channels that users now face. We may believe schoolchildren doing homework can effectively interact with information with a multitude of simultaneous channels such as books, paper, computer applications, speech recognition, music, television and the Internet, all at the same time, but there is little clear research in this area. Nor is there evidence that recent technology innovations such as the Internet and mobile phones have generated significant productivity improvements. We may feel better informed and more in touch, but white-collar productivity continues to fail to show marked and measured improvements despite significant and growing investments in technology over the past 10 to 15 years. Users can present findings in much more attractive reports, with a rich media compound document look and feel, and with a variety of sources that would have been impossible ten years ago. Yet we have to ask if the intellectual depth and relevance of the conclusions are any the better! If users are to be masters of the technology, and not slaves, then ways have to be found for managing information across the diverse media channels. If exactly the same information is presented across the television, the personal computer, the mobile phone, the Personal Digital Assistant, the Intelligent Fridge or whatever, then all users gain is faster information overload. The content will manage user lives, rather than users managing the content.

The challenge is to find ways of effectively transforming the variety of media data channels into a virtual knowledge sources and streams, rather than a series of discrete, disparate and competing sources. Users still need to evaluate and have confidence in sources of information, whether this is the multiple confirmed sources for a news agency or newspaper article, or first hand experience transmitted via web cameras.

Users also need just as much the packaging of information into discrete elements, such as small items to read on the move, and larger and more in-depth articles when interacting with a digital television or pervasive computer. And users still need the ability to interact with the information sources so they can decide for themselves the

slant they want on a particular topic or issue, and go deeper into items or contextual material if they so choose.

For the above to happen there needs to be convergence between at least three distinct areas. These are :- Content packaged and tagged in such a way that it can be an interactive resource, requiring Document Content Structures and Document Category Structures.

Communications whether the fat pipes of the cable companies or the thinner, but still adequate, channels of mobile or fixed traditional telecommunications Computing as significant computing power is needed to give the co- ordination and user control over the information channels.

These three information-related domains gives the necessary infrastructure for effective information and transaction interaction from a user perspective. There may be all manner of commercial considerations in preventing the realisation of the coordination of the ubiquitous information and pervasive computing, but the alternatives of data overload and invasive computing are not acceptable to the majority of end users.

Essential Features An essential feature of the method is the structuring and classification of content at creation or before receipt. Within multi-device environments in order to reach the degree of co-ordination needed requires the establishment of end-to-end standards and tracking from the moment of information creation, all the way through the delivery of information through diverse media channels, to the information interaction that endusers engage in. To achieve this requires the co-operation of the major information producers, the main distribution channels including telecommunications, both fixed and mobile, cable and satellite, and the existing or new computing operations to handle the intensive information interaction on a global scale.

The links between the different stages have to be two-way, not one way, and there has to be a continuous tracking of user interactions if effective delivery and co-ordination of information is to take place. Controls need to be in place to ensure user privacy, as well as ensuring the integrity of financial and other transactions."Always On Line" may be a necessity to deliver information and not data streams, but this should not mean such information is made available to commercial or Government Bodies, or other interest groups with users explicit authorisation.

The degree of integration needed to deliver the above vision is significant. An analogy to illustrate the degree of interconnectivity comes from the biological world, with a DNA helix made up of a small number of units, combined and bound together in very powerful ways. In the information world the DNA equivalent is as follows :-

Documents created in a way to be multi-purpose and interactive Networks fixed and mobile Applications be this information distribution, shopping, work or leisure It is the interactions between these three components that give the co-ordination and consistency users require coping with the ubiquitous information world. D-N-A, together with the requirements of co-ordination across discrete domains, means users could potentially be in control of the information, not the other way round.

Information DNA and information cubes or other multi-dimensional devices, may be the modem logical extensions to the early Xerox work on windowing, icons, mice and pointers-what was called in the early 1980s the WIMPS interface! As in the mid 1960's research, the focus is on the assimilation, usability and exploitation of information, not just on the technology infrastructure. The bid difference to the mid 60's research is there is now an abundance of computing power at affordable prices to provide the user with a richer and more relevant and easier to navigate experience.

Users can move from WIMPS to information DNA cubes for their knowledge content and transaction and interaction experiences.

A feature of this method for maintaining action and interaction coherence across differentiated media channels by preserving end-to-end user integrity across multiple boundaries is to ensure information and transaction interactivity is more effectively realised. Together with the addition of new elements in the information and transaction distributions and flows it is possible to manage maintain and co-ordinate the coherence of information and transactions across different media boundaries by establishing and preserving a user-centric view of activities at all times, together with two way interaction, information and transaction flows.

A further feature of this method in human computer interaction to supplement oneway communication and information flow of request and supply or push technologies to include two-way information flows about user behaviours in order to co-ordinate delivery of information and avoid duplication and redundancy within the same media channel or across different media channels, and thus provide a foundation for coordinated information supply, interaction, transaction monitoring and billing mechanisms.

This method brings tighter relationships between elements of information distribution, including compound documents themselves, the networks over which these flow, and applications within which information and knowledge is used, when information flows, transactions and interactions take place within structured information systems with corresponding co-ordination across discrete media channels by co-ordination centres, people and/or software.

Another feature of the method is different user interactivity in human computer interaction as discrete information streams of different media channels are coordinated and managed in their delivery and interaction monitoring compared to a

situation reflecting a free for all with little or no co-ordination and management across diverse content streams.

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.

Introduction to the Drawing.

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 the method and process for establishing shared information categorisations, with categories populated from sources and streams of like-classified content as the foundation for establishing interactive coherence across multiple links by preserving user integrity across intermittent and persistent links. The method includes the following steps, or modifications and variations thereof to establish the same or similar ends :- 1. Creation of Structures 2. Sharing of Structures 3. Creation and packaging of content and communications along the lines of the structures established 4. Dispatch of content to one or more a of a variety of devices using diverse networks of various kinds 5. Receipt of the streams of content on the different devices, at the same or different times 6. Navigation of the content on the different devices with a consistent family of navigation techniques made possible by the creation of the information structures 7. All steps in the process are linked to co-ordination and tracking devices and processes to establish a coherent picture of user activity and behaviour.

8. Evolution of the structure and subsequent sharing of the evolved structure to establish a feedback loop for the ongoing evolution of the process and for continuous improvements throughout subsequent information cycles.

Figure 2 shows the extension of the method for dealing with information delivery to multiple devices.

Figure 3 illustrates the manner in which information is co-ordinated across diverse devices through the establishment and maintenance of persistent communications and software links across different devices and networks with aggregation and integration of the content and the activities according to user and device preferences and requirements.

Figure 4 shows how the method and process and structure can apply to a variety of devices, to deliver consistent user interfaces across such devices.

Figure 5 shows the iterative application of the method and process and structure across the different elements of an end-to-end information cycle. Such iteration across the information cycle ensures a degree of commonality and integration to ease user learning and minimise interference across different devices and modalities.

Figure 6 indicates the complications created through the recognition of Superordinate, subordinate and multiple memberships for different groups which is a feature the method and process deals with and caters for. This differentiates it from prior art which focuses on exclusive and hierarchical relationships between elements.

Figure 7 shows illustrative examples of multiple group memberships, and the overlapping nature of the underlying databases associated with such memberships.

Areas of overlap and intersection are addressed within the method and process.

Figure 8 illustrates how the method and process is extended to deal with a variety of domains relating to communications, interaction and transaction.

Figure 9 indicates how the iterative application of the method and process, providing as it does structures to navigate and personalise, is a candidate for improved versions of the Internet and Web.

Figure 10 shows the different categories of activity throughout the end-to-end information lifecycle, and the interrelations between the categories, including . Information

< * Classification * Tracking . Transmission * Distribution . Action Interaction To provide a complete and effective information and user interaction end-to-end life cycle.

Figure 11 shows the extension of the method and process for multiple group memberships, which provides for cross-group coherence. This, together with additional components for tracking and co-ordinating information usage, provides a foundation for a billing and service relationship with end users.

Figure 12 shows the different components in the enlarged iterative method and process including . Computing * Communications

. Co-ordination . Community . Information . Entertainment

. Interaction . Action Figure 13 shows how persistent links between the different stages of the end-to-end information cycle interact with central, or indeed distributed, repositories to maintain the integrity of the user perspective for information delivery, communications, transactions, security, privacy, locality, billing and administration Examples An example of ubiquitous interactive services can be found in a scenario for a"Home of the Future", as there are clear trends towards greater intelligence, interactivity and interconnection of home devices. We are moving towards a more integrated environment where information and entertainment merge into infotainment experiences.

When watching a sports game, users will have options for choice of camera angle, and associated images and information, including sports statistics and access to historic archives.

Preparing a meal may involve a combination of local electronic stock control, electronic ordering across the Internet of needed ingredients, multi-media and interactive cookery books, or multi-media demonstrations, and local or remote control of the cooking devices.

Working from home will involve a combination of personal computers and networks, together with digital televisions and home theatres for virtual working via teleconferencing, computer conferencing, joint working on compound documents, research via books, reports and electronic media, and output of compound documents and associated Meta-tags for delivery of the information to a variety of sources without subsequent human re-purposing.

And schoolwork and leisure activity will involve a variety of communications and interactions both real and virtual.

With any family or group working on the same or different devices in the same or different locations at the same or different times then even something as apparently simple as an intra-family or intragroup email becomes a significant co-ordination challenge. Not only can the e-mail be created and responded to on a variety of different devices, but also the e-mail system needs to know what users are on what devices at what time so delivery can effectively be achieved.

The information may go to the mother on her mobile phone on her way to work, to the father via the intelligent fridge, to the daughter via a virtual reality games console and to the son via a mail window within a TV sports game.

Somehow, somewhere there has to be a co-ordination of the information distribution, to keep track of the responses, deliver the replies, and possibly arrange for storage and archiving of the communications interactions. In addition there needs to be management of the interfaces between the three primary parties to any interactive information distribution, namely Content Communications Computing As well as the users of the various intelligent devices. This represents some significant challenges to business communities, to agree on co-operative frameworks so users can enjoy the benefits of ubiquitous co-ordinated content, transactions and interactions References and Related Matenal 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 platform, 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 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 I 85251 042 0 Ross & Ioannou 1996-21 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 0 489 576 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 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 Sharing of this structure with others through written or spoken communication or electronic means or some other method 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
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 :-

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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 1 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 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 Ars 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

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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.

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.

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7 The method and process of Claim 1 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 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of providing a family of similar interfaces to a variety of different devices with the interfaces sharing common features of the base method and process such that the content-device interface has none, some or all of the following characteristics :- Devices use a common method for structuring, ordering and sequencing across devices Devices use a common method for navigation and access of different documents, categories classes and other features Any device is capable under user control of accessing any or all of the full feature set of the core document structures, albeit with limitations of speed, display or other limitations * Interactions and transactions from any and all devices can be tracked by a meta-structure, using further iterations of the base method and process which contains a full profile of all user activity and behaviours for administration, security and billing purposes, subject to user privacy and national and international security and other requirements.

9 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of Information Providers using or providing interfaces and standards and reciprocal billing information and arrangements where these are required with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- Users and providers agree the basis of the billing mechanisms and the costs associated with information access and transactions Information providers assume the financial and other risks associated with transactions of any sort Information Providers remain legally responsible for the information they provide for onward transmission to users and for any other aspects of the interactions or transactions arising from their content.

10 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of users agreeing the billing and other administrative and financial arrangements associated with delivery of information to a variety of devices, with no consequential or other liabilities for the method and process and structure that is used to facilitate the information provision and transactions 11 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of various user profiles and activities and transactions forming, via the further iterative application of the base method and process, information superstructures with other individuals or groups for whatever purpose, including none, some or all but not limited to the following :-

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Content or transaction delivery or fulfilment Administrative, financial, legal, geographic or other requirement whether currently foreseen or not Creation or maintenance of physical, social or virtual groups or communities or any combination thereof 12 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of using an iteration of the base method to create structures, naming conventions, and identifiers for individuals, groups, communities and multiple groups memberships, with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- n Any individual or group to have a variety of identifiers indicating membership of physical, social or virtual groups, including multiple and overlapping memberships, with, when known, some or the totality of memberships maintained and delivered as unified or differentiated streams depending on user preference and activity Allocation of unique identifiers comprising prefix or suffix of both, whether random or not, to individuals, subgroups, groups or communities such that members of the same unit have an identical prefix or suffix or both At the same time and in parallel allocation of locator tags or identifiers based on geography, which remain overt or covert depending on requirements, security and other factors, such that unique identifiers can also when required exhibit geographic and other cues, for security, location, physical deliveries and similar requirements The potential for senders or receivers or information, or both, to use physical cues, social cues, virtual cues or any combination thereof to direct content to more or less inclusive groups, subgroups or multiple groups or any combination thereof An ability to use combinations of the unique and locator identifiers to facilitate content delivery over network alternatives according to any requirements or combinations of requirements at any particular time including none, some or all of the following :- Least cost routing Direct route routing . aggregate routing for physical groupings Routing selected to maintain quality of service levels

. Routing following prescribed geographical routes * Random routing Multiple routing across the same and different networks to similar or diverse devices or both Any combination of the above or variations and modifications thereof to achieve similar ends 13 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of creating billboards, message groups or other display facilities for directing messages to any subgroup, group or overlapping or

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intersecting groups, be these physical, social, virtual or any combination thereof 14 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of having content relating to a locality as defined within the base method on a less or more inclusive scale according to user requirements, available for any members within that locality to use, or for any other individual or group requiring such information to also have access to locality specific information, with navigation within and between domains according to the base method and iterations thereof, including none, some or all but not limited to the following :- Skills, trades, professionals and similar groupings . Shops, outlets, warehouses and similar Restaurants, Cinemas, Theatres, Hotels, Leisure facilities and similar Jobs, permanent, temporary and interim Classified advertising of any or all products or services or combinations thereof Places of interest . Hobbies, interests and other physical, social or virtual groupings 15 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of using the locality, grouping and membership cues and tags for administration, billing, crediting, security and control to any individual or group of any single or combined goods, services, usage, utilisation or combinations thereof . Billed to individuals Billed to groupings of whatever type . Or to any combination of the two, or other variations thereof 16 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of using the base method and process and iterations thereof, embodied in methods, processes, procedures, business practices, value chains, hardware, software, networking, databases, storage and other similar devices, together with the structured and shared content, categories and classes, and the locator and other cues to track, respond to or anticipate user requirements when using a variety of devices to access information sources, streams, multicasts and other distribution methods so as to retain a user position and perspective with regard to the information presented and display across different devices with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- * User position is retained across any and all devices that are active at any particular time in a tightly coupled or loosely coupled

fashion or combinations thereof, according to user preferences and device capabilities * Content delivery to or action on one device transmitted to other linked and active devices, as appropriate to their capabilities if need be

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Activity or reaction on one device transmitted to linked and active devices, and reflected in inactive devices the next time they are activated Traces, logs, actions and transactions within and across none, some of all devices are logged for administration, service, and billing End to end activity is monitored to provide quality of service metrics, and to interface these into any or all administration, billing, crediting, and service quality penalty measures, debits or credits for users, information providers, third parties or any combination thereof 17 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of allowing users single designations and sign on passwords to a variety of devices if they so choose, or to associate and if required integrate discrete identities on different networks for administrative and billing purposes.

18 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of establishing interfaces, standards, inter-working, interoperability or any combination thereof with the providers of networks, services, facilities, entertainment or work or leisure free or paid for managed services or similar infrastructures such that the end- to-end integrity and coherence and integration of users of the base method and process is maintained, or not as required 19 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of providing co-ordination across a variety of different media distribution channels, networks, information providers and similar to provide a comprehensive series of services that work across diverse and discrete devices in a manner that provides a family resemblance in the interface, navigation and access techniques, with a low level of duplication and redundancy of content and a low level of duplication of user activity.

20 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of some or all of the content distribution channels being "always on" and available such that information and transactions can be periodically or constantly sourced, streamed or multicast to the receiving devices with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- Where persistent links are available the user through the co- ordination of different devices is made aware to whatever devices are active if and when there is activity using their unique identifier on any or all other channels for security and integrity of actions and transactions * That where information services of whatever type agree that common and uniform electronic naming conventions based on the base method and process and structures can be implemented across different domains to open up opportunities for consistent naming in electronic and virtual spaces similar to lifetime personalised

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numbers available within the telecommunications arena.

21 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of the introduction of media distribution centres for media of a variety of different types capable of being sent to a variety of different devices, simultaneous and successively, with the potential of end-to-end quality of service links on some or all of the different distribution channels, with individual or group or some combinations thereof of usage, activity and transactions monitored to provide an information, communications, interaction and transaction utility similar to the energy, water, telecommunications, financial and entertainment utilities or combinations thereof 22 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of using two way flows of information about user activity in order to co-ordinate delivery of information and avoid duplication and redundancy within the same media channel or across different media channels at the same or different times with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- A user-centric view of activities and actions, interactions and transactions is maintained across the different information boundaries, devices, service and information providers The flow of structured information, co-ordinated across discrete channels or devices or both by people, systems, software or some combination thereof, providing a foundation for the co-ordinated information supply, communication, interaction, transaction, monitoring, quality of service, administration and billing mechanisms, procedures and processes An ability to contact and communicate with others on line at the same time, pre-selected or sought and searched on the basis of locality, identifier and other cues or combinations thereof from one or any of a variety of different devices whilst retaining the integrity of the transaction or transactions.

An ability to modify the processes, profiles, sources, streams or other distribution, communication and transaction activities as a result of the flows of single and co-ordinated stream of activity across single or multiple devices to provide feedback loops, controls, security and evolution of the base method and process and iterations thereof 23 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.

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Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 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 one, 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 'Sharing of this structure with others through written or spoken communication or electronic means or some other method '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 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 :-

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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 1 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 allowing 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 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

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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.

. 1. 0cessjig or-i--
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.
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.

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7 The method and process of Claim 1 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 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of providing a family of similar interfaces to a variety of different devices with the interfaces sharing common features of the base method and process such that the content-device interface has none, some or all of the following characteristics :- * Devices use a common method for structuring, ordering and sequencing across devices * Devices use a common method for navigation and access of different documents, categories classes and other features Any device is capable under user control of accessing any or all of the full feature set of the core document structures, albeit with limitations of speed, display or other limitations * Interactions and transactions from any and all devices can be tracked by a meta-structure, using further iterations of the base method and process which contains a full profile of all user activity and behaviours for administration, security and billing purposes, subject to user privacy and national and international security and other requirements.
9 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of Information Providers using or providing interfaces and standards and reciprocal billing information and arrangements where these are required with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- Users and providers agree the basis of the billing mechanisms and the costs associated with information access and transactions * Information providers assume the financial and other risks associated with transactions of any sort Information Providers remain legally responsible for the information they provide for onward transmission to users and for any other aspects of the interactions or transactions arising from their content.
10 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of users agreeing the billing and other administrative and financial arrangements associated with delivery of information to a variety of devices, with no consequential or other liabilities for the method and process and structure that is used to facilitate the information provision and transactions
11 The method and process of Claim I comprising the further step of various user profiles and activities and transactions forming, via the further iterative application of the base method and process, information superstructures with other individuals or groups for whatever purpose, including none, some or all but not limited to the following :-

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. Content or transaction delivery or fulfilment * Administrative, financial, legal, geographic or other requirement whether currently foreseen or not * Creation or maintenance of physical, social or virtual groups or communities or any combination thereof.
12 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of using an iteration of the base method to create structures, naming conventions, and identifiers for individuals, groups, communities and multiple groups memberships, with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- Any individual or group to have a variety of identifiers indicating membership of physical, social or virtual groups, including multiple and overlapping memberships, with, when known, some or the totality of memberships maintained and delivered as unified or differentiated streams depending on user preference and activity Allocation of unique identifiers comprising prefix or suffix of both, whether random or not, to individuals, subgroups, groups or communities such that members of the same unit have an identical prefix or suffix ûï bûth At the same time and in parallel allocation of locator tags or identifiers based on geography, which remain overt or covert depending on requirements, security and other factors, such that unique identifiers can also when required exhibit geographic and other cues, for security, location, physical deliveries and similar requirements The potential for senders or receivers or information, or both, to use physical cues, social cues, virtual cues or any combination thereof to direct content to more or less inclusive groups, subgroups or multiple groups or any combination thereof An ability to use combinations of the unique and locator identifiers to facilitate content delivery over network alternatives according to any requirements or combinations of requirements at any particular time including none, some or all of the following : - * Least cost routing Direct route routing Aggregated routing for physical groupings Routing selected to maintain quality of service levels Routing following prescribed geographical routes Random routing Multiple routing across the same and different networks to similar or diverse devices or both Any combination of the above or variations and modifications thereof to achieve similar ends
13 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of creating billboards, message groups or other display facilities for directing messages to any subgroup, group or overlapping or

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intersecting groups, be these physical, social, virtual or any combination thereof
14 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of having content relating to a locality as defined within the base method on a less or more inclusive scale according to user requirements, available for any members within that locality to use, or for any other individual or group requiring such information to also have access to locality specific information, with navigation within and between domains according to the base method and iterations thereof, including none, some or all but not limited to the following :-

Skills, trades, professionals and similar groupings Shops, outlets, warehouses and similar Restaurants, Cinemas, Theatres, Hotels, Leisure facilities and similar Jobs, permanent, temporary and interim Classified advertising of any or all products or services or combinations thereof . Places of interest Hobbies, interests and other physical, social or virtual groupings
15 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of using the locality, grouping and membership cues and tags for administration, billing, crediting, security and control to any individual or group of any single or combined goods, services, usage, utilisation or combinations thereof Billed to individuals . Billed to groupings of whatever type o Or to any combination of the two, or other variations thereof
16 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of using the base method and process and iterations thereof embodied in methods, processes, procedures, business practices, value chains, hardware, software, networking, databases, storage and other similar devices, together with the structured and shared content, categories and classes, and the locator and other cues to track, respond to or anticipate user requirements when using a variety of devices to access information sources, streams, multicasts and other distribution methods so as to retain a user position and perspective with regard to the information presented and display across different devices with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- User position is retained across any and all devices that are active at any particular time in a tightly coupled or loosely coupled fashion or combinations thereof, according to user preferences and device capabilities Content delivery to or action on one device transmitted to other linked and active devices, as appropriate to their capabilities if need be

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Activity or reaction on one device transmitted to linked and active devices, and reflected in inactive devices the next time they are activated Traces, logs, actions and transactions within and across none, some of all devices are logged for administration, service, and billing End to end activity is monitored to provide quality of service metrics, and to interface these into any or all administration, billing, crediting, and service quality penalty measures, debits or credits for users, information providers, third parties or any combination thereof
17 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of allowing users single designations and sign on passwords to a variety of devices if they so choose, or to associate and if required integrate discrete identities on different networks for administrative and billing purposes.
18 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of establishing interfaces, standards, inter-working,

n) ; 1 ; +NT ""Tr +1, ro, 74Ao ^. F interoperability or any combination thereof with the providers of networks, services, facilities, entertainment or work or leisure free or paid for managed services or similar infrastructures such that the end- to-end integrity and coherence and integration of users of the base method and process is maintained, or not as required
19 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of providing co-ordination across a variety of different media distribution channels, networks, information providers and similar to provide a comprehensive series of services that work across diverse and discrete devices in a manner that provides a family resemblance in the interface, navigation and access techniques, with a low level of duplication and redundancy of content and a low level of duplication of user activity.
20 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of some or all of the content distribution channels being "always on"and available such that information and transactions can be periodically or constantly source, streamed or multicast to the receiving devices with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- Where persistent links are available the user through the co- ordination of different devices is made aware to whatever devices are active if and when there is activity using their unique identifier on any or all other channels for security and integrity of actions and transactions That where information services of whatever type agree that common and uniform electronic naming conventions based on the base method and process and structures can be implemented across different domains to open up opportunities for consistent naming in electronic and virtual spaces similar to lifetime personalised

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numbers available within the telecommunications arena.
21 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of the introduction of media distribution centres for media of a variety of different types capable of being sent to a variety of different devices, simultaneous and successively, with the potential of end-to-end quality of service links on some or all of the different distribution channels, with individual or group or some combinations thereof of usage, activity and transactions monitored to provide an information, communications, interaction and transaction utility similar to the energy, water, telecommunications, financial and entertainment utilities or combinations thereof
22 The method and process of Claim 1 and Claim 16 comprising the further step of using two way flows of information about user activity in order to co-ordinate delivery of information and avoid duplication and redundancy within the same media channel or across different media channels at the same or different times with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- A user-centric view of activities and actions, interactions and transactions is maintained across the different information boundaries, devices, service and information providers The flow of structured information, co-ordinated across discrete channels or devices or both by people, systems, software or some combination thereof, providing a foundation for the co-ordinated information supply, communication, interaction, transaction, monitoring, quality of service, administration and billing mechanisms, procedures and processes 'An ability to contact and communicate with others on line at the same time, pre-selected or sought and searched on the basis of locality, identifier and other cues or combinations thereof from one or any of a variety of different devices whilst retaining the integrity of the transaction or transactions.

An ability to modify the processes, profiles, sources, streams or other distribution, communication and transaction activities as a result of the flows of single and co-ordinated stream of activity across single or multiple devices to provide feedback loops, controls, security and evolution of the base method and process and iterations thereof 23 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.