Method for Synchronizing, Monitoring and Capturing of System Host Activities Occurring at Locally Installed Applications

The present invention enables the host (presenter) to monitor and identify the current slide of the host presentation that is being displayed on a local user machine. The host is able to receive queries such as instant messages from local user's viewing the presentation and identify a particular presentation slide with contents that formed the basis for the question. The present invention generates a transcript of the local user activities that occurred during the presentation. This transcript helps the host presenter understand the contents of the activities and the basis for queries made to the host presenter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The method of the present invention will enable the user to follow a presentation while waiting for presentation files to download to the user's local machine. This invention provides a dynamic cloud based approach to local hand-off. It will enable users to view a cloud or other remotely-based (found via a URL) or screen-shared version of the presentation until a designated threshold portion of the source material has downloaded. After the downloading of the designated threshold portion of the material has occurred, the user will be able to view at the local machine of the user, the presentation while the remainder of the presentation continues to download.

Referring toFIG. 2, shown is a configuration of the system of the present invention in which a presenter200is in communication with the hosting provider202and begins to conduct a presentation. As mentioned, the presenter has the ability to remotely control the presentation at the hosting provider202. The user attendees connect to the hosting provider to access the presentation. In this configuration, two of the attendees (206and210) are viewing the presentation in a conventional manner. Attendees (204and208) are viewing the presentation by implementing the method and system of the present invention. As shown, attendee204comprises a computing device204aand a memory device204b. The same shows for attendee208. Both the computing device204a,208aand the memory device204b,208bare directly connected to the hosting provider202. At the initiation of the presentation, the presentation content is being viewed on the computing device204awhile it is also being stored on the memory device204b. Once the download of the contents is complete, the present invention will synchronize the downloaded presentation with the current location of the presentation at the hosting provider. This synchronizing action is part of the formal hand-off of the presentation from the hosting provider to the local user. At this point, the user can begin viewing the presentation contents from the presentation file stored in the memory device204b.

FIG. 3shows a configuration of the present invention wherein an attendee304is viewing a downloaded presentation file of the presentation stored in the memory device304bfrom the computing device304a. The computing device304ais in communication with the memory device304band with the hosting provider302. The user will view the presentation file stored on the memory device on the computing device. The user will listen to the audio of the presentation directly from the hosting provider.

In most configurations, the memory device and the computing device are the same physical device. Further, when viewing many of these online/webinar presentations, the user is located at some stationary location. However, with the active lives of many individuals, there can be situations when a user does not have time to sit at one location and view an entire presentation.FIG. 4is a configuration wherein a user can view a presentation while traveling. The user404will initially download the presentation file from the hosting provider402to a local storage location. In this configuration, the local storage device is in the computing device404a. As mentioned, once the presentation file is downloaded to the local memory/machine404a, the presentation is automatically synchronized to the currently slide location of the presentation. The user can incorporate a second electronic device to access the hosting provider402. The second user device can be any device that will enable access to the audio portion of the presentation. Once the user has established an audio connection to the hosting provider402, the user can listen to the presentation while viewing the presentation information. For example, with this configuration, a user can view a real-time presentation while riding a motor vehicle.

FIG. 5illustrates basic components of the hosting provider device. As mentioned, the hosting provider can be a server machine located on a communication network. Presenters would upload their presentations to the hosting provider. Users would access the hosting provider to view the presentations and download presentations to local user machines. The hosting provider500can also be a configuration of components that form a hosting system. As illustrated, this hosting provider500can comprise a series of web pages502and a web server504. A presentation engine506and conferencing applications508are the main components to facilitate the presentation options and functions of the present invention. The diagnostic and management module510ensures that the hosting provider continues to properly function. The operating system512and the memory514are basic components of any computing system.

The present invention comprises a system and a method for synchronization and management of system activities with locally installed applications.FIG. 6illustrates a flow diagram of the general steps in creating a presentation and viewing the presentation from the hosting provider. In step602, a presenter prepares a presentation and creates a presentation file. This presentation file could be a PowerPoint type file with multiple slides containing presentation information. After completion of the creation of the presentation file, the presenter uploads the presentation file to the host provider in step604. The host stores the presentation file in an account for that particular presenter. This file storage activity occurs in step606. Before the actual presentation, in step608announcement of the presentation is sent out to potential attendees. The presentation announcement contains information about the presentation topic, presentation time and presentation access information. At the time of the presentation, the presenter and attendees who chose to view the presentation will access the hosting provider in step610. In step612, the presentation begins with the presenter in control and presenting the information to the attendees. The attendees access the presentation and view the presentation from their local computing machines. Step614then synchronizes the presentation viewed at the local user machine with the presentation being displayed and transmitted at the host location.

FIG. 7is a flow diagram of the steps in the method of the present invention for identifying the current slide being displayed at a local user machine and displaying that identified slide at the host. In the initial step702, a presenter uploads a presentation to the host system machine location. As part of the presentation upload, step704marks each slide in the presentation with a unique slide identifier. This marking step can occur as the presentation is being uploaded or it can occur after the upload is complete. The unique identifier can be as simple as a slide numbering system. The objective is to create a means to identify each slide of the presentation. In step706, a user downloads the presentation to the user's local machine. As described in the above-identified related applications, a user at a local machine may choose to locally view the presentation instead of the conventional way of viewing the presentation from the host location. Also, the user may initially begin viewing the presentation via the host location, then transfer access to the presentation to the user's local machine.

In this method, step708identifies the slide currently being displayed by the presenter at the presentation host location. Step710then monitors the local user machines that are viewing the presentation. As part of the monitoring step, the method identifies the current slide being displayed at the local user machines. This identification can be accomplished by querying each local user machine and receiving a status indicating the current slide being shown at a local user machine. During the monitoring process, when the presenter changes to another slide to display, step712detects the change in slides being displayed at the host. When this change in slides occurs at the host location, step714then monitors the local user machines to determine if the change in presentation slides has occurred at each local user machine. Again, this monitoring and detection could be by sending a query to each local user machine and assessing whether a change in presentation slides has occurred. An optional command to synch the local user machine presentation with the host presentation can also occur at this step. After receiving a response to a submitted query, step716displays at the host location, the current slide being displayed for each local user machine.

FIG. 8discloses an embodiment of the present invention for identifying an instant message (IM) submitted to a host from a local user machine during the slide presentation at the host location. In this embodiment, step802detects an instant message being received at the host location during the slide presentation. Step804then identifies the current presentation slide being displayed at the host location. As mentioned, the slide identification process can be through a slide numbering system or other slide identification system. At this point, the method, in step806, identifies the local user machine that submitted the instant message. This identification can also be through a system that identifies each local user machine viewing the presentation. Step808then identifies the current slide being shown by the local machine the submitted the instant message. Step810then marks the current slide of the host that is displayed when the instant message is received by the host. This marking step can also include the current information about the current slide the local user who submitted the instant message was viewing at the time of the submission of the instant message.

FIG. 9is an embodiment of the present invention that identifies and displays at the host, the current slide being displayed at a local user machine. This embodiment enables the host presenter to know if the local user audience is at the same point of the presentation as the host presenter. As the slide presentation proceeds, step902displays a slide at the host location. This displayed side is the current slide of the presentation. As the slide is displayed, this slide is marked as the current slide in step904. Step906then identifies attendees viewing the presentation. These attendees can be ones directly connected to the host and viewing the presentation from the host location. These attendees can also be the local users viewing the presentation from their local machines. For the attendees viewing the slide presentation from their local machines, one way step906identifies users is based on their download of the slide presentation to their local machines. Since the host knows the slide of the attendees viewing the presentation from the host, step906is only applicable to the local user attendees. After the identification of the local user machine accessing the presentation, step908detects the slide currently being displayed at each local user machine. This detection step can be accomplished by sending queries from the host to local user machines for current display slide status and receiving slide status information of each local user machine at the host. At this point, step910displays the slide status information for each local user machine at the host.

FIG. 10is an embodiment of the present invention for generating a transcript of the host presentation. As the slide presentation proceeds, step1010displays a slide at the host location. This displayed side is marked as the current slide of the presentation in step1012. In step1014recording is initiated for the currently marked slide of the presentation. The recording can include the audible descriptions by the host presenter and any notations of any activities of the local user machines. Step1016detect and record comments and instant messages from user locations for current slide. Step1016, continues the detection and recording of comments and instant messages for each slide in the presentation. At the completion of the slide presentation, step1018transcribes recorded content for each slide. Step1020then generates a transcript of the presentation including transcribed records for each presented slide

This invention enables an attendee to quickly identify the location of a presentation that is currently in process without the need to spend substantial time and effort trying to identify the current location of the presentation.

It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of instructions in a computer readable storage medium and a variety of other forms, regardless of the particular type of medium used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable storage media include media such as EPROM, ROM, tape, paper, floppy disc, hard disk drive, RAM, and CD-ROMs.