KHARE DHANANJAY (US)
| WO2001097206A1 | 2001-12-20 |
| US20090134980A1 | 2009-05-28 |
| CLAIMS: 1. An information dissemination and display system for disseminating information to the target group of users wherein the information being largely communicated only one way, i.e. from the sender to the receiver in a read only format, the display system comprising: a computer with a monitor which is available to the user and can be used to access the information of the receiver's choice, connected to a computer network using intranet and/or internet; the information content comprising text, images, games and play format files in the form of audio or video clips which are specific to the target group; a display in the form of the computer monitor for displaying contents of the notice board in the form of text, images, icons and videos; a loudspeaker integrated with the system to play the audio content of the files; a multipurpose and interactive notice board allowing user to select, display and play desired audio as well as visual information as well as notices only either by pointing or touching towards the desired icon or pressing a simple keypad keys; a data storage unit communicating via internet to the computer where information is being stored in the form of files as well as data base attributes; wherein the computer is programmed to display the first view of the information dissemination and display system graphical user interface and the respective text, images, audio and video selections thereafter without the need to raise any query and with the help of classification of information heads recognizable for the target group member; additionally the information displayed on the notice board receivable via various networks using computers, mobile phones, tablets and other surface as well as audio devices; the content files being optionally searchable using search function for the file title and content; the display system and computers being backed by the database on the network computer, the files having various formats such as pdf, word, html and the likes wherein information is classified into various subject matters for the user group depending upon the purpose e. g. educational institutions, organizations like banks, hospitals, scientific, social and religious groups, associations and clubs, whereas the display will contain various buttons for the departments, divisions, sections, subject matter, genres; wherein clicking or touching on these buttons will result in the list of sub- departments in the form of new buttons; clicking on the desired sub-department will open stored content files having icons and filenames; wherein clicking or touching on the icons will result in the opening text, images, sound or data attributes; wherein the display having specific utility for the persons with disabilities like illiteracy, visual, hearing and motor control such as audio and video notice keypad interface. 2. The information dissemination and display system having video files having sign language as well as enhanced lip movements to enable lip reading for hearing handicapped persons. 3. The information dissemination and display system having specific utility for the persons with disabilities like illiteracy, impaired sight such as audio notice files with optional keypad interface. 4. The information dissemination and display system having video files having special icons, sounds and visuals for persons and children with motor control disabilities. 5. The information dissemination and display system having video files having the icons varying accordingly with subject matters like sports, exams, banking, building industry and the likes helping faster communication according to the target group like students, bank clients, travellers, court visitors and the likes; wherein notices of the current week/month/day may be in the "current" or "latest" folder along with subject specific folders which can store folders until they are removed. 6. The information dissemination and display system wherein the audio and video files when played are distributed to other computers and display screens. 7. The information dissemination and display system wherein at least one file is audio. 8. The information dissemination and display system wherein at least one file contains photographs in at least one folder. 9. The information dissemination and display system wherein at least one link for the video clip for other site. 10. The information dissemination and display system wherein at least one link for the audio clip for other site. 11. The information dissemination and display system having special features for disabled persons and special children. 12. The information dissemination and display system in the public place without having to log on to access but only to touch the required notice file. 13. The information dissemination and display system optionally having arrangement to make contents visible when the reader arrives within a particular distance from the board. 14. The information dissemination and display system practically having no limit on the storage of old notices for referencing or record keeping of activities of the institution as well as communication. 15. The information dissemination and display system capable of replacing present email communication system for sharing common information to the target group such as employees, clients by its usage. |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates in general to the field of organizational communications using devices like computers, mobile phones, internet and wireless devices with groups having domain specific communications requirements and, in particular, to groups reachable at respective physical as well as virtual locations as well as having varied interests and which is capable of replacing the present email communication system for the purpose of sharing common information which is not of personalised nature.
BACKGROUND
Every organization needs to communicate with its target group like employees, students, clients etc. The information to be communicated can be detailed and about different subject matters. The physical space of display boards is many times insufficient and information needs to be searched around and new information is difficult to locate. Old papers are removed and new papers appear on all notice boards and important information never reaches the target audience. Also it takes a long time to find what is needed or the desired information is not found. The enquiry counters are overloaded and crowded in populated environments. The hardcopy notices are not environmentally friendly and old notices need filing by the administrators traditionally. The email notices have limited utility as the availability of computers as well as connectivity and accessibility is a problem for many members of target groups as smart phones are not commonly used. In addition email notices need to be searched to find relevant and required information received in the past days, months and years.
United States Patent application 20020065881 entitled Wireless family bulletin board by Mansikkaniemi, Tapio et al. describes an electronic bulletin board which can be accessed by members of a family from their wireless devices. The wireless devices for various members of the family can access a common database, which produces an appearance of a bulletin board having notes attached thereto. The notes may be generated manually, may be generated from e.g. a calendar, or may be the result of a short message service contact. The notes may be of various colors to indicate their origin or importance. The notes may be moved around on the board and any member of the family may generate new notes.
United States Patent 6,964,022 entitled Electronic board system by Snowdon et al. describes an electronic board system which includes an electronic board having a screen for displaying information of interest to a work group or community, an input device for receiving information from users in a group or community to be displayed on the electronic board, a memory for storing information received from the input device and a processor for selecting which information stored in the memory to display on the screen, where and how to display the selected information on the screen and displaying the selected information on the screen. The processor selects which information to display in accordance with a predetermined relationship based on a group-based recommendation criteria and user interest. A plurality of sensors disposed behind the screen detects user interest in information displayed on the screen near the sensor. User interest may also be determined by monitoring user requests for copies of information displayed on the screen.
United States Patent application 20110167354 entitled RICH MEDIA NOTICE BOARD by Raghunath; Mandayam Thondanur et al, describes a rich media notice board enables users to communicate with others in their own and related communities who use the rich media notice board or other rich media notice boards, such as those in related communities, as well as with others who use conventional interfaces via the Internet. The users of the rich media notice board can post notices including text, images, audio, and video to the rich media notice board. The notices may also include usage metaphors that may allow users to relate to the notices. A user interface of the rich media notice board may employ the usage metaphors to provide an interface that may be used by users who may not read or write with sufficient proficiency to otherwise use a computer. The users may access the rich media notice boards from computers, mobile phones, and kiosk systems.
United States Patent 7,466,988 entitled Electronic system by Koskinen et al. describes an invention which relates to an electronic system for implementing an optimized way to provide information from a first electronic device to a second portable electronic device, and to a method of implementing a virtual noticeboard. The context in the virtual noticeboard of the first electronic device is arranged to be transmitted to the second device located within a geographically limited coverage area of first radio means of the first device, and the second device comprises selecting means for selecting the reception of the virtual noticeboard of the first device. The contents of the noticeboard may only transmit to those who enter with their devices the permanent coverage area of the noticeboard, such as an airport. The device implementing the noticeboard and the radio means transmitting its contents may be integrated into one device. The virtual noticeboard may be a global one.
United States Patent 8,042,051 entitled by Apparatus for navigation and interaction in a virtual meeting place by Jerrard-Dunne et al describes an apparatus for providing for virtual communication and collaboration comprises a collaborative virtual environment (CVE) application executing within a distributed data processing system, and a navigation module implemented within the CVE application. The CVE application provides a virtual world represented as a grid of an interconnected set of locations each divided into a set of zones and each having an assigned context through a user interface provided to a plurality of users through one or more client systems. The CVE provides each user with a respective avatar representation for navigating and interacting within the locations of the virtual world. The navigation module provides a user interface element and automatically directs the avatar representation to traverse the set of zones the set of locations of the virtual world in a particular order of locations and at a particular.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An information dissemination and display system with archive for target groups (hereinafter interchangeably referred to as 'the IDDS') may comprise a display system which is accessible to the target groups physically in the common place as well as virtually accessible from personal computers, smart phones and other wireless devices. It also provides the function of archiving all information communicated in the past to the target audience in a classified manner. The information content may be in the form of text, pictures, audio, video and animation files and internet links to other sites. The information dissemination and display system may be intended for the target group which is functionally homogeneous and hence may be located at strategic locations. The users may be registered for the internet viewing from their personal computers; however they do not have to register for the viewing at the common and strategic place for the target group. The display system is available for selecting the information in the text, audio and video format which may be learnt by reading, listening and viewing in most of the user areas however in some areas two way information communication may be possible. The information send by the user may have limited purpose such as identification number, feedback with buttons as well as few words and the likes. The information will be stored in a classified manner with respect to the subject areas and subareas. The selection of subject areas followed by subareas may lead to the file menu with icons and filenames of each file. Pointing to the required file may open document which may be any standard format such as pdf, word, text, picture, audio video and the likes. In a common or strategic place pointing a finger or a pointing device may be sufficient to reach the desired information file. Each subject area have a button on the main screen along with special buttons called as "current", "new", "this week", "this month" and the likes. The files to be communicated will be added in the subject area as well as current folders. They will be removed from the special folders called as "current", "new", "this week", "this month" and the likes but remain for ever in the classified subject area and subarea folders for the future reference as well as record purposes.
The subject headers may be given short forms as well as symbols such as academic, admin, accounting, examinations in case of the information dissemination system for an educational institute. Each target group may have different headers for subjects as well as graphic symbols and sound signatures.
The readers of the IDDS system may or may not have to enter any data to logon or to access depending upon the choice of the administrator. Optionally the display contents may be visible when the reader stands in front of board otherwise it may be on all the time which may be achieved with the help of a sensor or web camera. Notice files in the folders of departments and sub-departments may be held in the database for multiple years depending upon the choice of the administrator enabling no removal of the notice from the board due to the lack of physical space or getting out-dated. There will be practically no limit on the storage of old notices for referencing or record assessment of communication.
The information dissemination and display system with archive is capable of replacing email communication system to the target group members as far as the common information is to be shared in various formats, The system will save the efforts of opening attachments in the emails and communicate faster about the subject matter enabling group viewing of common information. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates infrastructure that may comprise a global network containing an information dissemination and display system (IDDS) with archive and computers as well as other communication and display devices operatively connected to the IDDSIDDS through the network, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying a tile view with rounded corner rectangular buttons representing the IDDS corresponding to different categories or classes relating to the target community. The example of Figure 2 illustrates the notice board designed for the target teacher community of an Indian higher education institution.
FIG. 3 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "RESEARCH" button: sub- departments button view opened viz. AWARDS, PATENTS, PROJECTS etc. posted on the IDDS.
FIG. 4 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window display after clicking on the "sub-department": "PATENTS" button: FILE LIST VIEW opened viz. KKJ-US-1, KKJ-EPO-GRANT, KKJ-US- PERMITTIVITY etc.
FIG. 5 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "Maha Accounts" button: sub- departments button view opened viz. "current", "saving" posted on the IDDS.
FIG. 6 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "Maha Loan" button: sub- departments button view opened viz. "housing", "education" posted on the IDDS.
FIG. 7 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "Videos" button: File list view opened directly viz. "Video 1", "Video2" etc. are links posted on the An IDDS. FIG. 8 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "PHOTOs" button: File list view opened directly viz. "dynaneshwar", "UV mask-innovation" , "imagel" etc. are photo links posted on the IDDS.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS:
The IDDS may comprise a publicly-accessible database and archive of notices. Notices uploaded on the IDDS may comprise in the form of a file which may contain text, images, audio and/or video information in any format supported by computer system e. g. word, pdf, image file formats, audio and video. The IDDS may be associated with a target group. Such target groups may comprise any group of people having a common function such as, for example, work, study, business, community membership, religion, social responsibility etc. The examples may be listed as student groups, teachers, bank clients, court visitors, visa applicants, admission seekers, tourists etc. Anyone may not post a notice on the information dissemination and display system. IDDS The notices will be posted by only an administrator and anyone may not access notices posted on the personal devices other than displayed in the public places. The public displays may be used by anyone standing in front of it as the password will not be required for each user but is entered at the initialization.
Referring to FIG. 1, accessing notices on the information dissemination and display system The IDDS may comprise playing said notices on a computing and display device. FIG. 1 illustrates infrastructure that may comprise a global network containing a The IDDS and computers as well as other communication and display devices operatively connected to the IDDS through the network, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention. The computing and displaying device may comprise, for example, a personal computer, a touch screen display, a cell phone, or other mobile device. Learning said notices on a computer may comprise opening and displaying or playing files containing the images, text, audio and/or video. The administrator may upload the notices and users may only enter their identification and learn the content. The IDDS may be accessed by one or more computers which may be connected to the information dissemination system via one or more network connections. A web browser resident on the one or more computers may use, for example, a URL to operatively connect the one or more computers. FIG. 2 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying a tile view with rounded corner rectangular buttons representing the IDDS corresponding to different categories or classes relating to the target community. The examples of Figure 2 illustrates the notice board designed for the target teacher community of an Indian higher education institution referring to Fig, 2, upon the connection of a computer to the IDDS, the computer will open the main screen where there are buttons for various classified notices such as "current", "last week", other subject or activity heads. There will be a button for opening a list of current notices and recent past notices.
Referring to Fig. 3 buttons "current" and "last week" may be touched or clicked to open display of new buttons describing the short header of the notice in the form of a button. In addition there will be classification of notices corresponding to the target group using suitable subject headers which the user may be able to recognize the subject matter. Every notice for the stipulated period such as one year, two or five years may be archived according to the need of the group and record keeping may be enabled automatically.
Referring to FIG. 3 touching or clicking on the said buttons sub classes of notices will appear in all other buttons than "current" and "last week" On clicking or touching these headers the notices can be opened and read, displayed or played depending upon the format. Audio playing devices such as load speaker, headphones or wireless headphones may be used according to the requirement. The files will be removed from the special folders called as "current", "new", "this week", "this month" and the likes but remain for ever in the classified subject area and sub-area folders for the future reference as well as record purposes. A browser window displays a tile view with rounded corner rectangular buttons representing the IDDS with archive corresponding to different categories or classes relating to the target community. The examples of Fig. 3 illustrate the notice board designed for the target teacher community of an Indian higher education institution.
Referring to FIG. 4 the subject headers may be given short forms as well as symbols such as academic, admin, accounting, examinations in case of the information dissemination system for an educational institute. Each target group may have different headers for subjects as well as graphic symbols and sound signatures. Fig. 4 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "RESEARCH" button: sub-departments button view opened viz. AWARDS, PATENTS, PROJECTS etc. posted on the IDDS.
FIG. 5 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window display after clicking on the "sub-department": "PATENTS" button: FILE LIST VIEW opened viz. KKJ-US-1, KKJ-EPO-GRANT, KKJ-US- PERMITTIVITY etc.
FIG. 6 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, used for the target group of a bank. Fig. 6 illustrates a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "Maha Accounts" and "Maha loans" buttons and a sub- departments button view opened viz. "current", "saving" posted on the IDDS.
FIG. 7 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "Maha Loan" button: sub- departments button view opened viz. "housing", "education" posted on The IDDS.
FIG. 8 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "Videos" button: File list view opened directly viz. "Video 1", "Video2" etc. are links posted on the IDDS.
FIG. 9 illustrates, in an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a browser window displaying view after clicking on the "PHOTOs" button: File list view opened directly viz. "dynaneshwar", "UV mask-innovation" , "imagel" etc. are photo links posted on The IDDS.
However the IDDS implementation is not limited to the format displayed in the figures 2-8 but can take various displays and play formats.
The IDDS may be useful to people with limited computer knowledge, access and literacy. Referring to FIG. 2 and 8 some special features may be added for hearing, visually and other handicapped persons. The IDDS may have video files having sign language as well as enhanced lip movements to enable lip reading for hearing handicapped persons. The IDDS with archive may have specific utility for the persons with disabilities like illiteracy, impaired sight such as audio notice files with keypad interface. The IDDS may have video files having special icons, sounds and visuals for persons and children with motor control disabilities as well as age affected persons.
The audio and video files may be played on the notice board for the purposes of clarity and to remove the need and requirement to read the notices. Text or short messaging service may be optionally used for the mobile phone users along with email alerts. The users may access the information posted on The IDDS from computers, mobile phones, and net cafes by optionally using their user-ids only.