Abstract:
A system and method for providing a discussion, including receiving by a processor text related to a discussion; converting by the processor the text to voice; storing by the processor in a memory the converted voice; receiving by the processor voice related to the discussion; storing by the processor in the memory the received voice; receiving by the processor a request to play voice related to at least part of the discussion; and transmitting by the processor audio containing the voice identified by the request related to the at least part of the discussion.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This disclosure relates to group discussions, and more particularly to a system and method for providing group discussions. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Conducting discussions with colleagues is a long proven method used by physicians to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. These discussions require the participants to set aside a specific time to meet and set a mutually convenient place to gather. 
         [0005]    With the advent of the Internet and local networks, discussion groups have been adapted to enable participants to read and reply to text-based discussions. In operation, a participant to the group discussion creates a topic for discussion. This participant types in details of the topic to be discussed and posts the topic and details to a server. The process of posting to a server is well known in the art, and can include uploading the typed in text, i.e. topic and details, to the server, which in turn makes the topic and details accessible to other participants, or members, of the discussion group. The details can be in the form of information and/or questions related to the topic. All participants of the discussion group can access and view the topics and details posted to the discussion group. A second participant can read the topics and details and can reply thereto by typing in a reply and posting the reply to the discussion group. The server can structure the topic, details and replies in chronological order for ease of review by participants. Other participants can read and reply to all previous topics, details and/or replies. The physicians who are group participants must set aside time to read through the postings (i.e. topics, details and/or replies) in order to meaningfully participate in the group discussion. 
         [0006]    These prior art processes are both time consuming and inconvenient for the physicians, and may also result in certain postings being overlooked. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve at least the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for providing a discussion. 
         [0008]    One embodiment of the invention provides a method for providing a discussion, including receiving by a processor text related to a discussion; converting by the processor the text to voice; storing by the processor in a memory the converted voice; receiving by the processor voice related to the discussion; storing by the processor in the memory the received voice; receiving by the processor a request to play voice related to at least part of the discussion; and transmitting by the processor audio containing the voice identified by the request related to the at least part of the discussion. 
         [0009]    Another embodiment of the invention provides a system for providing a discussion, the system includes a processor for receiving text related to a discussion, converting the text to voice, receiving voice related to the discussion, receiving a request to play voice related to at least part of the discussion, and transmitting audio containing the voice identified by the request related to the at least part of the discussion; and a memory for storing the converted voice, and storing the received voice. 
         [0010]    A further embodiment of the invention provides a system for providing a discussion, the system includes a processor for receiving text related to a discussion, converting the text to voice, receiving voice related to the discussion, receiving a request to play voice related to at least part of the discussion, transmitting audio containing the voice identified by the request related to the at least part of the discussion, converting the received voice to text, and posting the text and the text of the received voice to a discussion board; a memory for storing the converted voice, and storing the received voice; and a communication device for accessing the discussion board, receiving from a user text to post on the discussion board, receiving from a user a post command, and transmitting to the processor the text to post as text related to the discussion. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrate the preferred embodiments of the bearing assembly of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a system for providing group discussions according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating processes for a system for providing group discussions according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating a communication device to which the present invention has been applied. 
           [0015]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  are a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a discussion according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a discussion according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0017]    Various embodiments of the invention are described hereinafter with reference to the figures. Elements of like structures or function are represented with like reference numerals throughout the figures. The figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the invention or as a guide on the scope of the invention. In addition, an aspect described in conjunction with a particular embodiment of the invention is not necessarily limited to that embodiment and can be practiced in conjunction with any other embodiments of the invention. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a system for providing group discussions according to an embodiment of the present invention. Shown in  FIG. 1  are network  101 , communication devices  102 - 107 , and processor  108 . Network  101  can be a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), the Internet, or other network. A communication device can include Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)  102 , smart phone  103 , electronic tablet  104 , telephone  105 , desktop computer  106 , and laptop computer  107 . Other communication devices are contemplated. Communication devices  102 - 107  communicate with processor  108  through network  101 . Processor  108  is connected to a memory  109  for storing program data, voice data, and text data. 
         [0019]    Processor  108  can be included in a health records server for storing Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data of multiple patients and multiple physicians as part of a system for providing electronic records. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/881,711, filed on Sep. 14, 2010, entitled “System And Method For Providing Electronic Records”, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
         [0020]    The present invention can effectively communicate the discussion to all of the described communication devices. For example, electronic tablet  104  is a device that may support only text communications (i.e. does not support voice communications) and therefore requires all discussions to be in text format, but telephone  105  is a device that may support only voice based communications (i.e. does not support text communications) and therefore requires all discussions to be in voice format. Other communication devices may support both text and voice formats, e.g. a PDA  102  or laptop  107 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating processes for a system for providing group discussions according to an embodiment of the present invention. Shown in  FIG. 2  are communication devices  103 - 106  that communicate with processor  108  through one of the described networks (not shown). If text is received, processor  108  follows written discussion path  201  to process the text, and if voice is received, processor  108  follows voice discussion path  210  to process the voice. At  200  a communication device  103 - 106  transmits and processor  108  receives either text or voice as part of a discussion. Processor  108  determines whether text or voice is received and proceeds to written discussion path  201  or voice discussion path  210 . 
         [0022]    In the written discussion path  201 , at  202  processor  108  stores the text  202 . Upon a request from a communication device for display of text of all or part of a discussion, processor  108  can transmit at  208  the text of the requested discussion to the communication device. At  203  the text is converted to voice. Converting text to voice and converting voice to text are well known in the art and will not be described in detail herein. The voice file  204  is stored in the processor  108 . In one embodiment of the present invention the format into which the voice can be converted is a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer 3 (MP3) format. Other audio file formats can be used and are contemplated. The voice file  204  is subjected to another conversion at  205  into an Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format  206 . The AAC format is used because all communication devices  102 - 107  for audio playback support AAC format. Other universal playback formats can be used and are contemplated. Upon a request from a communication device for playback of all or part of a discussion, processor  108  can transmit at  207  an audio file containing the requested discussion to the communication device in AAC format for playback. 
         [0023]    In the voice discussion path  210 , at  200  processor  108  stores the voice  211 . The voice can be stored as Flash Video (FLV), MPEG-4 (MP4) or Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) formats. Other formats are contemplated. Whichever format is used to store the voice, at  212  processor  108  converts the voice to AAC format for later playback. Upon a request from a communication device for playback of all or part of a discussion, processor  108  can transmit at  214  an audio file containing the requested discussion to the communication device in AAC format for playback. 
         [0024]    In addition, after the voice  211  is stored, at  221  processor  108  can convert the voice  211  to a wave format. Wave format is used due to its ability to be easily converted to text. Other formats can be used and are contemplated. At  222 , processor  108  stored the wave file. At  223 , processor  108  converts the wave file to text, and stores the text at  224 . Upon a request from a communication device for display of text of all or part of a discussion, processor  108  can transmit at  215  the text of the requested discussion to the communication device. 
         [0025]    At  225 , processor  108  performs data indexing on the text stored at  202  and  224 . Once the data is indexed, at  226  a search of the stored data can be requested by a communication device and the results of a search can be provided back to the communication device. At  227 , processor  108  transmits the results of the search to the communication device. In addition, processor  108  can perform at  228  data mining and at  229  analytics on the text stored at  202  and  224 . Data mining can be performed using industry standard tools, and can be used to determine topics of interest for participants and can also be used to enhance profiles of discussion participants. 
         [0026]      FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating a communication device to which the present invention has been applied. Shown in  FIG. 3  is smart phone  300  that includes a display area  301 . Although smart phone  300  is displayed, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be modified to apply to other types of communication devices. A discussion is displayed within display area  301 . The discussion includes postings A, B and C  303 . Each posting  303  has a respective poster  302  identified therewith. Each posting  303  also has associated therewith a respective play single posting button  304 . Also shown in  FIG. 3  are a play all button  305 , a record voice button  306 , a text input box  307  and a post button  308 . It is noted that for devices that only process audio information, e.g. a telephone, the present invention is equipped with a standard telephone menu program to assist in identifying the “Play All” or single post “Play” and in assisting a caller to record and post a posting. 
         [0027]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  are a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a discussion according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0028]    In  FIG. 4A , in step  401  processor  108  receives a request for a communication device. In step  402  processor  108  determines if request is for a post or a playback. If the request is for a post, in step  403  processor  108  receives post data from communication device. In step  404  processor  108  determines if the post data is text data or voice data. If the post data is text data, in step  405  processor  108  stores the text data. In step  406  processor  108  posts the text data to the discussion board. In step  407  processor  108  converts the text data to voice data. In step  408  processor  108  stores the voice data. In step  409  processor  108  converts the voice data into AAC format. And in step  410  processor  108  stores the AAC formatted data. 
         [0029]    If in step  404  processor  108  determines that the data is voice data, in step  411  processor  108  stores the voice data. In step  412  processor  108  converts the voice data to AAC format. And in step  410  processor  108  stores the AAC formatted data. In step  414  processor  108  converts the voice data to wave format. In step  415  processor  108  converts the wave data into text. In step  416  processor  108  stores the text data. And in step  417  processor  108  posts the text data to the discussion board. 
         [0030]    If in step  402  processor  108  determines that the request is for a playback, the process proceeds to  FIG. 4B . In step  420  processor  108  receives a playback request from a communication device. In step  421  processor  108  determines if the playback request is a “Play All” playback request. If the playback request is a “Play All” playback request, in step  422  processor  108  transmits audio of the voice for all of the posts to the communication device. If the playback request is not a “Play All” playback request, in step  423  processor  108  identifies the post requested to playback. And in step  424  processor  108  transmits audio of the voice for the identified post to the communication device. 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a discussion according to an embodiment of the present invention. In step  501  the communication device displays a discussion. In step  502  the communication device receives a post or a playback command from a user. If the command is a post command, in step  503  the communication device determines is the post command is for posting text or voice. If the post command is for a text post, in step  504  the communication device receives text input by a user. In step  505  the communication device determines is a post command is input. If the post command is input, in step  506  the communication device transmits the entered text to processor  108  for processing. If the post command is for a voice post, in step  507  the communication device receives voice input by a user. The use of a record function using record voice button  306  can be utilized. In step  508  the communication device determines is a post command is input. If the post command is input, in step  509  the communication device transmits the entered voice to processor  108  for processing. 
         [0032]    If in step  502  the communication device determines that the command is a playback command, in step  510  the communication device determines if a “Play All” command is input. If the “Play All” command is input, in step  511  the communication device transmits the “Play All” command to processor  108 . In step  512  the communication device receives the voice data for all of the posts. And in step  513  the communication device outputs the audio of the voice data for all of the posts. If the “Play All” command is not input, in step  514  the communication device determines if a “Play” command for an individual post is input. If the “Play” command for and individual post is input, in step  515  the communication device transmits the “Play” command for the individual post to processor  108 . In step  516  the communication device receives the voice data for the individual post. And in step  517  the communication device outputs the audio of the voice data for the individual post. 
         [0033]    The present invention can provide a user with the ability to interact with a discussion board using either text or voice or both. The present invention reduces the time required to interact with the discussion board and also provides a great convenience to the user. 
         [0034]    While the invention has been described with reference to a number of exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes can be made and equivalents can be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications can be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to any particular exemplary embodiment disclosed herein.