METHOD FOR SYNCHRONIZATION AND MANAGEMENT FO SYSTEM ACTIVITIES WITH LOCALLY INSTALLED APPLICATIONS

The present invention will enable an attendee/user to download a presentation from a host system location, synchronize the local user version of the presentation with the current location slide of the host presentation. In the present invention, an attendee/user can enter a command to the host system location of the presentation that will synchronize the local user version of the presentation with the current location of the host system presentation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This system 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.

FIG. 7is a flow diagram of the steps in the implementation of the method of the present invention. This method illustrates the downloading of a presentation file to an attendee's local machine while enabling the attendee to continuously view the presentation at the hosting provider during the downloading process. The steps inFIG. 7continue the process from the end of the method ofFIG. 6

Referring toFIG. 7, in the initial step702, a presentation presenter at a host system location creates a presentation file. As part of this presentation file creation, each file slide of the presentation file can have a unique identifier such as a number, letter or symbol for each file. After creation of the presentation file, in step704, the presenter uploads the presentation file to the system host machine. After the presentation file upload, step706stores the uploaded presentation file in an account of the presenter. At this point, step708announces and advertises the presentation to potential attendees. This announcement can include the time of the presentation and information that will enable an attendee to access the presentation.

At the scheduled time of the presentation, in step710, attendees access the host system location where the presentation file slides will initially be displayed. In step712, the attendee begins to view the slide presentation at the host system location. After the start of the presentation, step714enables an attendee to download the slide presentation to the attendee's local viewing device/machine. As part of the download, step716synchronizes the presentation version downloaded to the attendee's local machine with the current location of the presentation at the system host location402. Once the presentation is downloaded and synchronized at the attendee's local machine, the attendee can begin viewing the presentation through the attendee's local machine.

In step718, the attendee continues to view the presentation from the attendee's local machine. In this form of presentation, the attendee may have work advance the presentation from the attendee's local machine. There may be some type of prompt to inform the attendee when it is time to move to the next slide in the presentation. Step720can be an optional step that monitors the current slide of host presentation that is being displayed. This step720can detect when the attendee's local machine version of the presentation is out of synch with the host presentation. If the determination in step720is that the presentation version at the attendee's local machine is in synch with the host presentation, then the method continues in monitor mode at step720. If the determination in step720is that the attendee's local version of the presentation is out of synch with the host presentation, then the method moves to step722which issues a command from the local attendee machine to synchronize the local presentation with the current slide of the presentation at the host location.

As previously mentioned, an attendee can also detect that the local attendee presentation is out of synch with the host presentation. For example, if the attendee is interrupted for some reason during the presentation and does not advance the slide on prompt, the attendee presentation can get out of synch with the host presentation version. When this occurs, as part of the method of the present invention, the attendee can also issue a synchronization command at step722.

Step724performs synchronization of the attendee's local machine presentation version with the host presentation version. As part of this step, each slide of the host presentation could have a unique identifier. This unique identifier would also be present on the corresponding slide of the downloaded attendee presentation. In the synchronization process, in response to the synchronization command at the attendee's local machine, a query could be sent to the host location to retrieve the identity of the current slide being displayed. After retrieval of this identifier, the slide of the attendee's downloaded version is retrieved and displayed on the attendee's local machine. At this point, the host presentation and attendee local presentation would be synchronized. Attendee could then continue viewing the presentation from the current slide location.

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.