Background

Instant messaging is a widely used form of communication session between computer devices. As is well known, an instant messaging communication session allows a chat to be conducted between users of computer devices via a communication network such as the internet. Each user can enter text and other media objects into a field, actuate a send button and thereby create an instant message which is communicated to another user. Messages are addressed to particular users based on selecting contacts. A contact is a user identifier which is displayed on a display of a computer device and allows the user to click or otherwise select (for example) by touching on a touch screen a contact with whom the chat should be conducted.

Social networking is a fast growing phenomenon which allows users to conduct a chat into which comments, links and other objects can be posted. A chat can be one-to-one or multi-way between a group of users.

For example, social networking on mobile devices uses apps like "WhatsApp", "LINE" and "WeChat". Instant messaging can also be conducted on a PC or laptop using an installed client or web browser (for example, Facebook and Skype).

Summary

In the existing social networking chat apps, if a user wants to enter a media object into the chat, there is a process on the user interface which involves opening another screen (for example another app or photostore or videostore), copy- pasting or selecting an item from that alternative screen and then moving that item into the chat screen. The inventors have developed a significantly simplified user interface whereby mobile content is clicked to form the first item in a conversation between two or more friends who have a shared interest and who may be therefore in a chat session. The inventors have further provided an improvement where content itself can proactively reach out to users and provoke conversational action.

One aspect of the invention provides a computer device which comprises a display; a graphics controller configured to control the display; a processor configured to execute context code which supplies a context screen to the graphics controller, the context screen comprising a set of contextual information items, the context code arranged to receive user selection of a contextual information item and to activate messaging code which provides to the graphics controller a set of contacts to be displayed to a user, the messaging code configured to detect selection of a contact, create a messaging session with that contact and create a message addressed to the selected contact containing the contextual information item selected from the context screen.

Another aspect of the invention provides a computer device having:

a network interface to transmit messages to at least one computer device connected in a communication session via a communication network; and

a processor configured:

to receive updated contextual information items in a context;

to detect at least one user interested in the context; and

to autonomously create a message for transmission to a computer device associated with the detected user, the message containing the updated contextual information item.

There can be multiple users forming a group of interested users, and the message is transmitted to all the detected users in the group.

A further aspect of the invention provides a computer device for generating a commentary feed in the form of a digital data stream, the device comprising one or more of a first resource component configured to receive messages from multiple consumers of the commentary feed; a second resource component configured to receive (e.g. by accessing) factual information in a context; and a third resource component configured to receive at least one social network feed; and the device further comprising a display for displaying resources from the first, second and third resource components, the display further configured to display a field for accepting user input text commentary; user input means for enabling a user to select items amongst the displayed resources; and a feed generation component for arranging the selected resources and text commentary into a commentary feed for transmission and display at computer devices associated with the multiple consumers. In this context, commentary is to be construed broadly. The example discussed herein is sporting commentary but it could be general punditry or comments relating to a context.

The user input means can be offered by any suitable application platform, for example but not by way of limitation, chat/messaging technology/real time communication apps.

The commentary stream can interject into a chat between two or more people who are fans of certain teams. Additionally if one or more people follow a certain commentator then their commentary will be interjected - non-followers in chat can see this too. Each participant can turn off or manually add in commentary feed interjections while they are chatting. This can be considered a commentary feed propagation engine. It allows a commentator to be partly exposed to new potential followers.

The computer device can take any form, for example but not by way of limitation: a PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, whether connected by a fixed connection such as Ethernet or a wireless or WiFi connection (mobile devices). The invention further provides in different aspects methods and computer programs to implement the operations of the processors defined in the above definitions of aspects of the invention. Brief Description of the Drawings

For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will be now made by way of example to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows a display with a context screen;

Figure 2 shows a display having activated an item in the context screen;

Figure 3 shows a display having activated a chat screen;

Figures 4and 4a shows how a user receives and sees a contextual information item;

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of generation of a commentary feed;

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an enhanced generation of a commentary feed;

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing stickers in action;

Figure 8 is a block diagram of a communication system;

Figure 9 is a block diagram of a computer device; and

Figures 10a and 10b show a flow chart and screen shots of an incite sequence. The inventors have developed a platform with which to create, manage and monetise contextual chat apps and have applied this to create a "click to banter" app. The context which will be described herein is sport, but it will readily be appreciated but the techniques and features described herein can be utilised in a wide range of different contexts, for example finance or celebrity gossip. The computer system described herein which delivers the app is a cloud based mobile application platform from which one central app can be accessed by mobile devices with any operating system. However, the components and features described herein can be utilised in any computer environment. While contextual chat is described herein, it will be evident that the principles can be applied to real time messaging including voice interaction and broadcast. The context described herein is sport. Sports fans have the most pressing and immediate desire to interact on consuming relevant news. There are massive addicted fan bases with the majority following a limited number of specific sports tournaments (for example, in football - English Premiership, Spanish La Liga, Champions League etc). A sports app with playful banter between friends at its heart creates the opportunity for a fresh fun approach to allow factual information concerning the sports context to be delivered in an imaginative way.

In addition to the "click to banter" feature which is described herein, aspects of the invention offer other features. A platform described herein enables the delivery of a digital data stream which constitutes a commentary feed. This can be

considered as a chat powered virtual persona, such as a live match commentator or head-to-head quiz master. The platforms enables brands to sponsor such chat powered virtual personas. This allows the chat powered virtual personas to act as brand ambassadors tasked with building an appreciative following into which imaginative promotional material can be offered. It is a particularly useful aspect of the technology that the brand which is delivered can be dependent on the location of a consuming user. In addition to brands, virtual goods are provided such as stickers to embellish sports related banter - chat, audio and media video premium items.

The technology provides a cloud-based underlying infrastructure wherein one central app outputs to any digital device/platform (J2ME, blackberry, android, windows phone, IOS, chrome) and auto localises for any geographic territory.

A real time communication layer provides messaging functionality allied with a user database of connections and interests to constitute a contextual social graph. Ul functional components can be reordered and reconfigured on-the-fly and targeted to specific markets/consumers. The native app is a thin client app, backed up by a remote control cloud-based output.

Figure 1 shows a context screen available on a user device. The screen 2 provides a plurality of contextual information items 4. In this case, each item is the score of a particular match in the English Championship football league. The screen 2 delivered to the device can be selected from a set of screens dependent on the location of the device. Thus the branding and items in a screen can vary depending on the location.

Any of the contextual information items offered on the context screen 2 can be selected by a long press. This brings up a "share" dialogue box 8 from which a "chat" option 8, when selected, opens an address book draw from which a contact (recipient) can be selected. The app then autonomously creates an instant message containing the selected contextual information item 4 addressed to the recipient so that the shared item is then received by the recipient as the first item to start a chat thread, or the next item if the chat is on-going. See Figures 3 and 4 where the contextual information item 4 is shown as a chat object in the recipient device shown in Figure 4. In this case, the selected contact (user B) 10 of user A is Simon Davies.

Figure 4a combines Figures 1-4 to illustrate the additional feature of chat objects (i.e. contextual information items contained within the messaging feed) acting as a link to their original source within the application. Referring again to Figure 1 , it was seen that user A initiated a conversation with user B 10, Simon Davies, via the long press of a contextual information item 4 displayed on the screen 2 of user A's user device. While for this example user A's context screen contained contextual information items related to football only, user A may have access to several context screens, each configured to receive information pertaining to a plurality of contexts. This is illustrated on the left side of Figure 4a, where for example screen 410 may be configured to receive live Champion's League scores whilst screen 411 may be configured to receive updates from the New York Stock Exchange. The arrows 420 show the ways in which a user may navigate between different screens, e.g. by swiping a touch screen horizontally or vertically.

With the chat object 4 embedded in the conversation (as described earlier with reference to Figures 1-4), the recipient - in this case: Simon Davies, can select the chat object 4, e.g. by clicking it or pressing it via touch screen, and be taken to the source from which the chat object originated 430. Returning to the chat object 4 depicted in Figure 4, this might include for example, directing Simon away from the conversation with user A 102 and towards the score table or commentary feed where the context information item was originally selected by user A. It should be noted that at no point during the transition from conversation to chat object- information is a separate web browser evoked. The only information that a chat object can be linked to is information that the application can access from the live feed 16 over the communication network 106. The information associated with a given chat object has already been generated by the application and therefore needs only retrieving.

Another aspect of the invention will now be described - inform, unite, incite.

Consider again Figure 3. In Figure 3 there is a group of users (Harry Hancock, Simon Davies, Gary Graham etc.) who all share a common interest. By having the app on their computer devices they are in contact with a server 120, (see Figure 8). The server 20 has a store 12 which holds user profiles of users of the app. For each of the friends in the chat of Figure 3, there is a user profile which holds information about that user, such as their gender, age, previous interests etc. The server has an interface 14 which is connected to receive updates about the context, in this case, sport. For example, the interface 14 could be connected to a source of broadcast information which is broadcasting live data concerning a particular match. A processor 18 receives this information and analyses it in conjunction with the user profiles from the stores 12. The aim is to identify data items in the stream of live information which are considered to be relevant to one or more users. When the processor 18 detects that a data item which has been received is interesting to a group of users, it autonomously formulates a message containing or alluding to that data item as a chat object (or an alert if the app is not open) and transmits it as an incite message to those users via the communication network. The data item then appears on the screen of each computer device associated with the users who are selected to receive it and this could then activate a conversation between the users who have received that item and who are connected in a group.

The users to which the contextual information applies do not need to be engaged in a communication session. They can be alerted whether in the application looking at information or if the app is closed through the devices alert mechanisms which any app can be linked to.

Figures 10a and 10b illustrate the incite sequence as experienced by the user 102, at the user device 104. The method used is shown in Figure 10a; Figure 10b gives an example of the graphics displayed at the user interface for each step in the method. As seen in Figure 1 , the context screen comprises a plurality of contextual information items, one of which includes a text field 46 to support a live-stream of commentary text 48. This commentary text 48 is tailored to each user based on the analysis of the live-feed 16 performed by the server's processor 18. In the event that the server 120 identifies a data item that is relevant to one or more users, a notification including the data item as a chat object will be sent to each user and will appear in the text field 46 of their context screens as an 'atak alert!' (S601 ).

In this example, the data item may be of interest to user A 102 because some of the contacts (i.e. friends) associated with user A's profile - e.g. user B 1 10, user C 1 16(C) and user D 116(D), are expected to react negatively to it. Having received the 'atak alert!', the user interface of user A's device 104 will display the relevant contacts to the user (S602), giving user A 102 the option of initiating a

conversation with one or several of them (S603). If user A 102 decides to initiate a conversation with for example, user B 110, by clicking on the image of user B's name, then user A 102 will be shown a selection of creative resources (e.g. stickers) from which to choose and insert into the conversation (S605). If user A 102 decides to dismiss the 'atak alert!' then the user-interface will close the contact list and revert to the original context screen (S604).

Users are alerted of an incoming incitement Atak regardless of whether or not they are chatting to anyone at that moment. Acting on the alerted opportunity to send a provocative message will place that Atak message at the top of the message item history with the individual or individuals they target. The recipient is alerted that they are under attack (in ticker space common to all screens). If they click on that alert in the ticker screen it will open the chat window with the sender showing the Atak message as latest chat item. Where a group is set up of users with a common interest that could be targeted by an Atak then each member of the group would receive an alert of being under atak which would open the group chat screen. It is possible in one embodiment to send the message to all the potential targets suggested when you get the 'Atak alert' with one click - eg Atak all option

Figure 5 illustrates another aspect of the present invention which provides a commentary feed in the form of a digital data stream to be consumed by user's computer devices. Reference numeral 30 denotes a single computer device. The screen displays a set of commentator options 32 from which the user can select. The right hand side of Figure 5 illustrates the commentator's computer device 34 and in diagrammatic form shows the resources that a user of the commentator device 34 can rely on to generate the commentary feed. Reference numeral 36 denotes a first resource component configured to receive messages from multiple consumers of the commentary feed (fan/followers). Reference number 38 denotes a second resource component which provides factual resources, (such as scores from other matches, stats, league tables, etc.). Reference numeral 40 provides a third resource component configured to receive social network feeds. Reference numeral 42 denotes a fourth optional resource component in the form of creative resources such as stickers. Each resource component can cause its contents to be displayed on a display of the commentator device 34 to allow the commentator to select from displayed items to introduce them into the

commentary feed which is denoted by reference numeral 44. In addition, a text field 46 is open for the commentator to introduce commentary text 48. This is done by use of a keypad or touch screen keyboard on the commentator device (not shown in Figure 5).

The selected resources and commentary text entered by the commentator are formulated into a digital data feed which provides a commentary 50 which can be dispatched over the network to user devices such as 30. At the user device, the feed 50 of the selected commentator is displayed (52). A "mash-up" commentary can be selected at item 33 in which case a random selection from a plurality of different commentary feeds 50 arriving at a device can be displayed to the user.

Chat platforms can also offer push to talk VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) connections. These could be used to support an audio commentary stream in parallel, created by the commentator. Typically in some chat apps a user or group of users can be selected to open up a voice session (like Skype, LINE, Viber, WhatsApp). This is in addition to a more basic capability of being able to record an audio file and then send that as a simple item in the text chat stream (just 'ike a sticker or video). This real time VoIP can be used to deliver e.g.:

• "Banter ataks" - where you can immediately enter a VoIP/voice

conversation with a list of contextual targets.

• Commentator/Pundit functionality - generators of this can be talking in real time as well as entering into a chat feed screen. This is particularly applicable for media companies e.g. Skye Sports who may want their TV commentary surfacing in a mobile chat environment.

Figure 6 shows how the commentary feed can be expanded into a commercial context. On the right hand side of Figure 6 journalist resource components 54 are illustrated. These are professional journalist comments which can be

incorporated into the feed. On the left hand side of Figure 6, branding

components 56 are illustrated. Each of these constitutes a social media opportunity to deliver the digital feed having the brand of that particular social network.

Figure 7 shows the use of stickers in more detail. Each sticker constitutes a creative resource which can be introduced into a chat by selecting that resource on a screen. Again, a one-click action automatically introduces a selected sticker into a chat for the selected contact or group of contacts.

Reference will now be made to Figure 8 to describe a suitable infrastructure.

Figure 8 illustrates a packet-based communication system 100. A first user 102 of the communication system (User A 102) operates a user device 104, which is shown connected to a communications network 106. The communications network 106 may for example be the Internet. The user device 104 may be, for example, a mobile phone (e.g. smartphone), a personal digital assistant ("PDA"), a personal computer ("PC") (including, for example, Windows™, Mac OS™ and Linux™ PCs), a gaming device, tablet computing device or other embedded device able to connect to the network 108. The user device 104 is arranged to receive information from and output information to the user 102 of the device. The user device 104 comprises a display such as a screen and an input device such as a keypad, joystick, touchscreen, keyboard, mouse, microphone and/or webcam.

Note that in alternative embodiments, the user device 104 can connect to the communication network 106 via additional intermediate networks not shown in Figure 1. For example, if the user device 104 is a mobile device, then it can connect to the communication network 106 via a cellular mobile network (not shown in figure 1 ), for example a GSM or UMTS network.

The user device 104 is running the app 108, which may be downloaded from the server 120 connected to the communication network 106. The app 108 is a software program executed on a local processor in the user device 104 which allows the user device 104 to view context screens and engage in instant messaging communication sessions over the network 106. The app can also be downloaded from an app store such as Google Play or Apple's App Store.

Figure 8 also shows a second user 110 (User B) who has a user device 112 which executes an app 114 in order to communicate over the network 106 in the same way that the user device 104 executes the app 108 to communicate over the network 106. Therefore users A and B (102 and 110) can communicate with each other over the communications network 106. There may be more users connected to the communications network 106, but for clarity only the two users 102 and 110 are shown connected to the network 106 in a group context (e.g. football) in Figure 1. There may be more users connected to the communication network 106, such as user devices 116(C) to 116(D), each running a respective app and operated by users (users C and D) in the same way as the user devices 104 and 112 as described above. In this way there can be multiple recipients of a message and multiple participants of a group instant messaging chat. For example, user A may send and/or receive one or more instant messages, and which includes the users C and D as participants of the instant messaging chat (e.g. as either sender or recipient of the instant messages).

Each app 108, 112 has a log in/authentication facility which associates the user devices 104, 112 with their respective users 102, 110 e.g. by the user entering a username and password at the client and which is verified against user account data stored at the server 120 (or similar) of the communications network106 of the communication system 100 as part of an authentication procedure. Third party login/authentication mechanisms may also be used (e.g. Facebook and Google), also SMS verification to identify a user and establish a device as theirs. Users can have app instances running on other devices associated with the same log in/registration details.

In the case where the same user, having a particular username, can be

simultaneously logged in to multiple instances of the same application on different devices, the server 120 is arranged to map the username (user ID) to all of those multiple instances but also to map a separate sub-identifier (sub-ID) to each particular individual instance. Thus the communication system is capable of distinguishing between the different instances whilst still maintaining a consistent identity for the user within the communication system.

User 102 is logged-in (authenticated) at client 108 of device 104 as "User A". User 12 is logged-in (authenticated) at client 114 of device 114 as "User B".

Figure 9 illustrates a detailed view of the user device 104 on which is executed the app 108. The user device 104 comprises a central processing unit ("CPU") 202, to which is connected a display 204 such as a screen, input devices such as a keypad (or a keyboard) 206 and a camera 208 for capturing video data. The display 204 may comprise a touchscreen for inputting data to the CPU 202. An output audio device 210 (e.g. a speaker) and an input audio device 212 (e.g. a microphone) are connected to the CPU 202. The display 204, keypad 206, camera 208, output audio device 210 and input audio device 212 are integrated into the user device 104. The device also has a geolocation device 207 which detects the current geographical location of the user device. The location can be uploaded to the server 120 to influence the branding of the context screen or the items offered in the context screen.

In alternative user devices one or more of the display 204, the keypad 206, the camera 208, the output audio device 210 and the input audio device 212 may not be integrated into the user device 104 and may be connected to the CPU 202 via respective interfaces. One example of such an interface is a USB interface. The CPU 202 is connected to a network interface 226 such as a modem for communication with the communications network 106 for communicating over the communication system 100. The network interface 226 may be integrated into the user device 104 as shown in Figure 2. In alternative user devices the network interface 226 is not integrated into the user device 104.

Figure 9 also illustrates an operating system ("OS") 214 executed on the CPU 202. Running on top of the OS 214 is a software stack 216 for the client 108. The software stack shows a chat layer 218, a context layer 220 and a client user interface layer ("Ul") 222. Each layer is responsible for specific functions.

Because each layer usually communicates with two other layers, they are regarded as being arranged in a stack as shown in Figure 9. The operating system 214 manages the hardware resources of the computer and handles data being transmitted to and from the network via the network interface 226. The chat layer 218 of the client software communicates with the operating system 214 and manages the IM connections over the communication system 100. Processes surrounding deliveries of the context are passed to the context layer 220. The context layer 220 also communicates with the client user interface layer 222. The context layer 220 may be arranged to control the client user interface layer 222 to present information to the user via a user interface of the client and to receive information from the user via the user interface.

Figure 9 shows one CPU but alternative user devices may comprise more than CPU e.g. which constitute cores of a multi-core processor. One aim of the above ideas is to have an app (or rather, a representation of an app delivered via the cloud) that incites users to chat, using automated sports information to provide a context.

With Twitter (as an example), a user's opinion about a given sporting topic is disseminated from one user to many, leaving the user with no real means to hone in on the opinions of their friends or the opinions that they find generally

interesting. For example, if a twitter user wishes to look at amateur commentary on a Liverpool game they might search the hashtag: #LiverpoolFC. However, the results returned are unfiltered.

The concept herein is the idea of 'amplifying banter amongst friends' by using a live feed of sport updates/commentary to stimulate mobile/web chat. For example, the app might identify (from an updated information stream) that 'Rooney has missed a penalty' and present that or a chat object to a user. A link will then be provided to allow the user to immediately start chatting to a friend/ or friends about Rooney's blunder. The user might be presented with the option of sending their friend a sticker, for example, mocking Rooney's attempt.

To prevent users from flicking back and forth between match commentaries, live updates can be fed directly into the conversation by an automatic commentator - thus spurring on the conversation further. A manual option is also envisaged.

It is anticipated that the application will gather data about the user; the aim being to learn about the user's (and their friends') match preferences (favourite team for example) and from this to provide the user with personalised updates.

To allow monetisation of the app, the updates fed into a conversation may be provided by a sponsored 'sports dj' - the brand sponsoring the sports dj being specific to the region in which the app is being used (using the GPS location of the user device, for example).

It is also envisaged that sports quizzes will be made available to users and that the quiz master may also be brand-sponsored. One particular feature of the app is the ability for amateur commentators to share information with one another.

An amateur commentator can pull information from another amateur

commentator's feed as well as the standardised information provided by the app (or a provider such as ESPN or BBC sport).