Abstract:
An Internet interface is disclosed for tailoring of a web page to an individual user without requiring a user to disclose information that specifically identifies the user. The interface includes a user portion and a web page portion. The user portion includes a data file having information related to the user and means for automatically transmitting the data file upon initially accessing the web page. The web page portion includes data organized into sections and subsections. The web page also includes means for receiving the data file and means for analyzing and presenting the data based on information within the data file.

Description:
REFERENCE TO PRIORITY APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/086,671 which was filed on May 26, 1998 entitled ADVANCED INTERNET INTERFACE. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention pertains the global computing network otherwise known as the Internet or the World Wide Web. More particularly, the invention pertains to a system for selectively tailoring information delivered to an Internet user depending upon the particular needs of the user. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The Internet is a global computer network that is rapidly changing the landscape of the business community and has begun change the way people perceive themselves as citizens of the global community. By its very nature, the Internet provides a flexible vehicle to deliver information from any point on the globe to any other point on the globe. Providing such a vast amount of information on demand is a feat which is unparalleled in history in both size and scope. However, due to the limitations inherent with computer hardware, modems and telephonic systems, only a small portion of the capabilities of the Internet are utilized today. As the performance of computer hardware and software catches up with the expectations of the Internet-using community, the applications for which the Internet is used will increase tremendously. 
     Use of the Internet is in its infancy. Much to the chagrin of the Internet-using community, the press constantly features articles and commentary on the Internet which is overly simplistic and misleading. Much of the capabilities of the Internet remain more hype than fact. Since evolution of the Internet is in its rudimentary stages, no one can predict where the frontier will lead. 
     One of the current problems with the Internet is that inexperienced people in the business community and the user community tend to view the Internet as a natural extension (or slight modification) of the currently existing media. For example, much of the public uses the Internet as a high tech phone book whereby a user can obtain detailed information regarding a company&#39;s products, services or other background information regarding a company. A perusal of home pages currently existing on the World Wide Web confirms that home pages are currently a hybrid of the business-to-business Yellow Pages® directory and a television commercial. The home pages are unable to obtain any information regarding the specific Internet users which are contacting the home page nor are they able to deliver information tailored specifically to that user without the user experiencing a tedious “virtual gauntlet” of boring questions that they must answer time and time again for each home page that is accessed. The initial enthusiasm and mystique associated with the Internet will quickly evaporate unless Internet users and the business community begin to utilize the Internet to its fullest potential. 
     Accordingly, there exists a serious need for delivering useful information to an Internet user that can be depended upon to deliver quality data as reliably as current utilities are delivered. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a system for delivering information from an information provider to an information user that is selectively tailored toward the capabilities of the information provider and the needs of the information user. The system includes an interactive interface which provides a medium for information users to communicate with information providers. More specifically, the system includes means for the information user to tailor the profile of the information user depending upon the needs or desires of the information user. Separate means permit the information provider to view the information user profile and to structure the information seen by the information user in a format that is most suitable to that information user. 
     The system also enables the information user to operatively tailor their profile on a real time basis. Thus, the information provider to tailor the information provided may the Internet using community depending upon the time of day, business conditions or other factors. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an advanced Internet interface between Internet information users and Internet information providers. 
     Other objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is block diagram of the interface between information users and information providers over the Internet according to the prior art. 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the web page structures according to the prior art. 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the interface between information users and information providers over the Internet according to the present invention. 
     FIGS. 4A-4C are database structures of user information. 
     FIG. 5A is a block diagram of information provider according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 5B is a file structure of information identifiers according to the present invention. 
     FIGS. 6A and 6B are illustrations of web pages according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 7 is an illustration of a web page structure according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The preferred embodiment will be described with reference to the drawing figures wherein like numerals represent like elements throughout. 
     A block diagram of the interface between current information users and information providers over the Internet is shown in FIG.  1 . The information transport infrastructure  10  includes all of the infrastructure  10  required to convey information between the plurality information providers  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  and plurality information users  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 . This transport infrastructure  10  includes, but is not limited to, a wireless or wired public or private telephone system, a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) upon which the information users  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  or information providers  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  are resident, the plurality of way stations in between, and all of the computing resources required to deliver the information. It should be recognized that this infrastructure  10  could include the local cable television (CATV) infrastructure, telephone company infrastructure or even the wires provided by the electric company over which information information may be transmitted. It should also be recognized that the information may be transmitted by satellite or microwave means and the present example should not be viewed as a specific limitation upon the scope of the present invention. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, as each information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  utilizes the Internet to access one or more information providers  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 , each information provider  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 , such as a Web page, will appear identical to each information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 . There is no tailoring of information to each information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 . Of course, an information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  can run the aforementioned “virtual gauntlet” of questions to obtain the information they require, but this process is extremely frustrating and time consuming. Additionally, much of the information requested from the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  by an information provider  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  is standard information such as an information user&#39;s name, address and other personal or financial information. 
     Most Web pages are structured as a logical tree and branch format as shown in FIG.  2 . First, the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  accesses the desired home page  40 . As the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  inputs information and makes selections, the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  gains access to additional tiers of information. For example, if the first choice  42  is selected by information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  on the home page  40 , the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  will be shown a second tier of choices  50 ,  52 ,  54 . Selection of the first choice  50  from this second tier of choices  50 ,  52 ,  54  will provide access to a third tier of information with three additional choices  56 ,  58 ,  60 . In this manner, the Web page  40  will provide incremental additional information in response to the selections made by the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 . Ultimately, the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  will acquire the information they need after one or more attempts or they will give up in frustration and access a competitor&#39;s home page or make a telephone call directly to the company. 
     The system  9  of the present invention for providing an advanced, selectively tailored Internet interface is shown in FIG.  3 . As shown, both the information users  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  and the information providers  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  are selectable and changeable entities; in contrast to the static entities that presently comprise the Internet. As shown, the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  may tailor their information user profile as needed to acquire specific information. In this manner, one might even view the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  as having “multiple personalities.” 
     As shown in FIG. 4A, for example, the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  may have a business profile  200  which is specifically tailored toward the information user&#39;s  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  business needs. The profile  200  comprises a file  202  having a plurality of fields  204  which hold data that the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  is male, Caucasian, fiscally conservative, politically conservative, is employed by a Fortune  500  company, is employed in a sales position, has an undergraduate degree in economics, speaks English and is a U.S. resident. 
     Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4B, the information user&#39;s  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  profile  220  for accessing the Internet for pleasure comprises a file  202  having a plurality of fields  204  which hold data that the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  is a male, Caucasian, college graduate, has a liberal arts degree, homosexual, speaks several languages, has an annual income of $70,000-$100,000 socially liberal and fiscally liberal. It should be noted that a data file  250  having a standard format as shown in FIG. 4C may be adopted by all information users  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  and information providers  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  on the Internet. In this manner, a user may simply check or fill-in any of those user profile attributes  252 A- 252 N that are applicable. As shown, there are almost an unlimited number of columns which may be created to identify all of a user&#39;s attributes  252 . Additionally, a plurality of profiles  260 A- 260 N may be created by the user. For example, the user may create a business profile  260 A for all of his or her business trades, and then create several personal profiles  260 B,  260 C for their personal traits. This profile is stored in computer memory (not shown) and transferred to an information provider  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  when a Web page is accessed. These multiple profiles  252 A- 252 N are not unlike the multiple personalities that currently exist in every day life for many individuals. In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, the profiles  252 A- 252 N are selectively tailored to the needs of the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  at a particular time. Although several current Web pages permit a user to create a profile for that particular Web page, the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  must create this rudimentary profile each time they access the Web page. The present invention has the advantage that a detailed standard profile  252  may be created having an tremendous amount of detail and selectivity then this profile  252  may be utilized with any information provider that accepts the standard format. 
     Referring to FIG. 5A, an information provider  300  in accordance with the present invention is shown. The information provider  300  is a virtual panoply of information which is placed in a mosaic most pleasing to the information users  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 . The information on the Web page  302  may be thought of as a mosaic of electronic tiles A, B, C 1 -C 16 , D, E, F, G each of which have a portion of the Web page  302 . Each tile A-G is a result of a separate data stream  310 - 322  which individually updates the tiles A-G. The tiles A-G may change, and the format and location of the data streams A-G may change as a result of the change in the data streams. As shown, the tiles A-G may be changed on a yearly, quarterly, daily, hourly or constant basis. Additionally, as shown, the entire Web page  302  may be changed, or only one or more portions of the Web page  302  may be changed as will be explained in detail hereinafter. 
     Each data stream  310 - 322  has a set of information identifiers for identifying the type of information provided by the data stream  310 - 322 . For example, the data stream  310  which supplies section A may carry general information regarding the Web page&#39;s owner such as a corporation. The file structure of the information identifiers  340 A- 340 N is shown in FIG.  5 B. Among the plurality of other data streams  312 - 324  may exist intellectual property information such as a company&#39;s copyright and trademark notifications (section G)  318 ; directions on how to reach the corporation&#39;s headquarters (section F)  320 , sales or service locations (section E)  322 ; and a plurality of other information related to a company&#39;s products or services (sections B, C, D and H)  323 ,  314 ,  324 ,  312 . It should be apparent even to those with rudimentary skills in the art that the foregoing discussion regarding the data streams  310 - 324  involving a company&#39;s products or services may apply equally to any of the other data streams that are set forth on a Web page  300 . 
     The tailoring of a company&#39;s information or services will now be explained in detail hereinafter. The three data streams that will be selected are a company&#39;s logo (section H)  312 , a company&#39;s product line (section D)  324  and the description of the product line (section B)  323 . Although some of the data streams may be individually linked, such as a product and the description of the product and the price of the product; they will be treated separately for simplification of the explanation. 
     Tailoring of the data stream  312  of the company&#39;s logo will now be described. As shown in FIG. 6, this or any other data stream  310 - 324  may be tailored toward the time of day. This will give the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  the pleasing experience that the Web page  302  is “fresh.” For example as shown in FIG. 6A, the logo H may be profiled by a rising sun during the early morning hours, a bright sun during the day and a setting sun in the late afternoon and early evening hours. The moon and stars may come out after nightfall, as shown in FIG. 6B, and would be an indication of the actual time of day. Although this may appear as a gimmick, the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  may access the Web page  302  all day long without actually seeing the same Web page  302  twice. It should be recognized that other portions of the Web page  302  may be likewise tailored. This could also be a powerful marketing concept whereby the logo might change color for a certain period of time indicating that the company&#39;s products are on sale, the stock is doing well or that the company is hiring. Any aspect of the logo H may be changed to provide useful information to the information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 . Additionally depending upon the profile  252  of the information the users  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 , a Japanese resident accessing a Web page may view a “sun rising” page, while simultaneously a U.S. resident will see the moon, stars and nightcap. The profile  252  will be downloaded to the information provider  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 . 
     Referring back to FIG. 5A, the data stream  323  concerning a company&#39;s products B will now be described in detail hereinafter. This data stream  323  is shown in greater detail in FIG.  7 . As shown, the data stream  323  may comprise a plurality of separate data streams  323 A- 323 C which change on a basis set by the information provider  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 . The first data stream  323 A, for example, pertains to a company&#39;s “high end” line of products  380 , the second data stream  323 B may comprise a company&#39;s “middle end” line of products  382 , and the third data stream  323 C may comprise the company&#39;s “low end” line of products  384 . 
     Each particular data stream  323 A- 323 C may comprise the same products throughout the day as shown in FIG. 7, or may change periodically throughout the day, or based upon the time of day. For example, the high end line of products  380  may relate to gourmet coffee; the middle end line of products may relate to your average “cup of joe”  382 ; and the third data stream  323 C may relate to your “get it hot” coffee line for people who are looking only for a caffeine intake and are willing to “choke down” any sludge  384 . These three lines of products  380 - 384  may be displayed until approximately 11:00 a.m. Thereafter, three new high, middle and low end lines of products  380 - 384  are described such as a company&#39;s soda or tea beverage line. In the evening, the three data streams  323 A- 323 C may again change to liquors used for after dinner drinks. 
     Referring to the high end product description data stream  323 A, this data stream  323 A may be selectively tailored in a different manner as will be described in detail hereinafter. For example, the data stream  323 A may actually comprise three separate lines of data  323 A 1 ,  323 A 2 ,  323 A 3 , one tailored towards very conservative, serious or older individuals  323 A 1 , one tailored towards “no frills” type people who seek only raw data regarding a product, such as health conscious individuals  323 A 2 ; and a third data stream that is playful, light and funny for the common Internet surfer  323 A 3 . Accordingly, going along with the present example the high end line of coffee products may be described in the conservative data stream as “a succulent blend of Columbian and Arabica beans which are blended for an exquisite taste and are dry roasted to relieve the coffee of any bitterness.” This type of explanation is specifically tailored to “high income and high end serious and conservative individuals who are looking for a premium product.” The description of the high end product for the “data seeking” type of individual may read as follows “a blend of 60% Arabica, 40% Columbian coffee beans is blended and freeze dried at Fed minus 60 degrees Celsius. A six ounce cup contains 100 calories, zero grams of fat . . .” For those generation X&#39;ers who are accustomed to a “loud” advertising style, the following will suffice: “Yo! This cup of joe will be blow you away. Be the first of your friends to drink this liquid gold and have the bragging rights that you, truly, have it together.” As can be seen by these differing descriptions, a conservative individual would clearly be turned off by the in-your-face manner of the third data stream. Likewise, younger individuals would most likely be bored by the first description. In this manner, a company can cater to all needs without having to boil down and sanitize a particular Web page to meet a majority market, while alienating minorities. 
     The most beneficial aspect of the present invention which permits a company to tailor the delivery of information to a specific user without requiring the user to input alot of mundane and unnecessary information will now be described in detail. When an individual accesses a particular Web page, the individual&#39;s current profile that the individual has selected, (for example  252 A), is automatically downloaded to that Web page. The Web page manager matches the user&#39;s profile to the information identifier&#39;s  340 A- 340 N. Depending upon the number of matches, the manager selects the data stream that corresponds most closely with the profile  252 A. In this manner, the Web page manager tailors the Web page to the specific individual based on the profile. The Web page manager selects most appropriate data streams for the current information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  depending upon the currently available data streams and the profile of the individual. Although there may be a standard Internet protocol developed which may require an information user  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18  to input their profile in a standard format such as 100 different sorting aspects, this is not required. The Web page manager will use those downloaded portions and will tailor the Web page accordingly. 
     This system allows the information provider to selectively provide information to the information user without the information user&#39;s knowledge or without irking the information user by telling them they need a password, or they need to be a member. It permits those members to get to the information seamlessly. For example, low end users may receive coupons, high end users may receive product warranty information. 
     Another feature of the present invention is that it includes the ability to access a web site and map the entire web site. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when an information user selects choice  1  Ai, the person does not know what exists in choice  1  Ci until they get there. Often, the person forgets the other choices available. The present invention may either map the route which the person has gone and provide a tree and branch diagram as a picture-in-picture window within the screen or may map the entire web site upon accessing the Web page. For example, when a person access a web site, the web site navigator resident within the information user&#39;s browser may quickly go in and access every page of the web site. It will then summarize, and categorize the information in a concise manner and provide a branch and tree type map. 
     Although the invention has been described in part by making detailed reference to certain specific embodiments, such details is intended to be instructive rather than restrictive. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the structure and mode of operation without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the teachings herein.