Abstract:
A method of processing a non-linear narrative article to improve a user&#39;s interactive experience is described. A user watching the narrative article can select options during presentation which influence subsequently viewed media clips associated with the selected options. The user navigates a single downstream path through the many possible paths in the narrative. In addition to downstream non-linear navigation, at each navigational decision point, upstream parts of the non-linear narrative are identified and the user is presented with upstream navigation options to enable non-linear upstream navigation through the narrative.

Description:
[0001]    The present invention is concerned with non-linear narrative media articles and in particular with upstream navigation within such non-linear narrative media articles. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Multimedia articles are sequences of audio and/or video content, for example a movie clip or a presentation. Such articles are typically linear in that there is a predefined order of displaying the sequences between the beginning of the multimedia article and the end. For example, from a set of audio sequences A, B and C and video sequences I, II, III and IV, a media article may be defined as III+A followed by I followed by IV+C and finally II+B. Once the designer of the media article has defined the sequence, it is fixed and even though a viewer can navigate to points within the article, the order of presentation of the sequences is fixed. 
         [0003]    In order to provide the viewer with a more enjoyable viewing experience, it is desirable for the viewer to have some control over the order in which the component media sequences are displayed. To address this issue, it is also known in the art to provide a “non-linear interactive” or “shape-shifted” storyline. 
         [0004]    In such a storyline, the user is presented with choices during the storyline and the subsequent parts of the story vary in dependence upon the choices made by the user. During a storyline, the user will have many opportunities to make choices, thereby allowing many possible outcomes. In this way the user is made to feel that the program is tailored to their specific interests. 
         [0005]    In addition to the ability to choose future paths through a non-linear narrative media article, the non-linear aspect of the article means that the viewer is also able to jump backwards in the narrative or “rewind”. In this way, a user can choose to go back to a certain point in the presentation they have already explored. 
         [0006]    In one example of the rewind feature, the user has a “rewind” button which allows the user to jump back to the last encountered decision point within the non-linear narrative media article. In order to implement this feature, the system maintains a log of the user&#39;s decisions as they navigate the narrative article. When a request to rewind is received, the viewing software restarts the narrative article and replays the sequence of user choices but skips the actual playback of the associated media clips until the rewind point is reached, then playback of the narrative continues. 
         [0007]    In an alternative rewind method, the viewing system allows the user to rewind backwards in blocks of time by maintaining a recording of the user&#39;s path through the narrative, In this way, a user can select to rewind the narrative to replay, for example, the most recently displayed five minutes of the narrative. 
         [0008]    In both cases, the rewind mechanism is limited in that it only permits a user to replay what has previously been experienced. In this sense, the known non-linear narratives are in fact only non-linear in the forward direction. In the backwards or rewind direction, the narratives are linear. 
         [0009]    The present invention addresses the above problem. 
         [0010]    In one aspect, the present invention provides a method displaying a non-linear narrative article as set out in claim  1 . 
         [0011]    In another aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for enabling upstream navigation of non-linear narrative articles as set out in claim  6 . 
     
    
     
         [0012]    Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  shows an overview of an upstream navigation system according to a first embodiment for an upstream navigation system and in particular shows the interface presented to the user of the non-linear narrative by a viewer computer; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  schematically shows the physical components of the viewer computer illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  schematically shows the functional components of the upstream navigation system as implemented on the viewer computer illustrated in  FIG. 2 , including a non-linear narrative renderer; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  shows an example non-linear narrative data structure which can be processed by a non-linear narrative renderer illustrated in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  shows the internal data structure of the nodes of the non-linear narrative data structure illustrated in  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  shows the example non-linear narrative data structure and the progress of a user&#39;s navigation through the narrative; 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  shows the contents of the narrative log illustrated in  FIG. 3 ; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  shows a flowchart of the processing steps performed by the non-linear narrative renderer illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    An embodiment of the present invention will now be described. 
         [0022]      FIG. 1  shows an overview of an upstream navigation system according to a first embodiment for an upstream navigation system and in particular shows the interface presented to the user of the non-linear narrative by a viewer computer. 
         [0023]    In  FIG. 1 , the navigation system is embodied in the computer  1 . The enlarged view of a display  3  of the computer  1  shows the interface that is seen by an end user. At certain points along the narrative, the user is presented with navigation options. In the centre of the screen, a number of downstream options  5  are presented. In this example there are three downstream options  5   a,    5   b,    5   c  which represent new media clips that the user can choose. 
         [0024]    The lower left section of the screen contains a “rewind” button  7 . If the user clicks this rewind button  7 , the previous decision option screen choices are presented to the user as is conventional. 
         [0025]    The lower right section of the screen contains a “forward” button  9 . Where a user has previously clicked the rewind button  7 , clicking the forward button  9  allows the user to jump forward to the last decision point without having to watch the media clip associated with the decision again. 
         [0026]    In the top left of the screenshot, the upstream navigation buttons  11  are displayed to the user. In  FIG. 1  there are  2  options  11   a  and  11   b.  These are options which are upstream of the current decision point but lead to the decision point currently displayed to the user as defined by the structure of the non-linear narrative being navigated. 
       Client Computer 
       [0027]    The physical components of the computer are shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0028]    The computer  1  is formed of a processing unit  19  connected to a display  3 . The processing unit  19  contains a processor  23  for executing program instructions stored in RAM  25  and/or persistent data store  27 . 
         [0029]    The processing unit  19  also contains a display driver  29  for driving a user interface on the display  3 , an input/output unit  31  for receiving user input from a keyboard  33  and mouse  35  and a network interface  37  for connecting the computer  3  to a network (not shown). All of the internal components of the processing unit  19  are connected via an internal data bus  39 . 
       Functional Components 
       [0030]    In operation, the processor  23  executes program instructions stored in persistent data store  27  and/or RAM  25  to configure the client computer  1  to present the non-linear narrative to the user. The program code executed by the processor causes the computer as a whole to be configured to process and present non-linear narratives. As a result of the program instructions, the computer  1  can be described as a set of functional blocks which process data to allow a user to view a non-linear narrative in a conventional downstream manner and also to allow a user to navigate in the upstream direction when required. 
         [0031]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , a non-linear narrative renderer  41  processes a non-linear narrative  43  data structure stored in a non-linear narrative data store  45  which is located partially in physical RAM  25  and partially in the persistent data store  27 . The options available to the user are displayed on display  3  during the presentation, the user can enter selections via the keyboard  33  or mouse  35  and these selections are received by user choice receiver  47  and forwarded to the non-linear narrative renderer  41  for processing. The user&#39;s choice is processed and media clip associated with the selected option is presented to the user via display  3 . 
         [0032]    As the user navigates the non-linear narrative  43 , the user&#39;s choices are stored in narrative log  49  by the non-linear narrative renderer  41 . As is conventional, the non-linear narrative renderer  41  allows a user to rewind through the narrative by rewinding to previously presented sections of the narrative. 
         [0033]    The non-linear narrative renderer  41  in this embodiment differs from a conventional narrative renderer in that it also provides the functionality to allow a user to navigate in an upstream direction. The user can select to rewind the narrative to a previously seen media, and additionally the user can view other previously unexplored segments of the narrative which are upstream of the current media clip but lead onto the current media clip. 
         [0034]    An illustrative example of the operation of the upstream navigation will now be given. 
         [0035]      FIG. 4  shows the contents of a sample non-linear narrative  43  that has been generated by a narrative generation system which does not form part of the present invention. 
         [0036]    In the example non-linear narrative  43 , the structure can be represented as a tree or directed graph having a root node  71  from which the narrative begins and a larger number of intermediary and leaf nodes  73 ,  75 ,  77 ,  79  connected by branches  72 ,  74 ,  76 ,  78 . A sequence of nodes  71 ,  73 ,  75 ,  77 ,  79  linked by branches  72 ,  74 ,  76 ,  78  represents a path through the non-linear narrative  43 . As is known, the non-linear aspect of the non-linear narrative arises from the fact that the user can select different media clips at predetermined points in the narrative  43 . The designer/author of the non-linear narrative  43  assembles the clips and determines where the decision points are located between media clips. As such, in  FIG. 4 , the branches  72 ,  74 ,  76 ,  78  represent media clips, and the circular nodes  71 ,  73 ,  75 ,  77 ,  79  represent decision points. 
         [0037]    The hierarchy of nodes in  FIG. 4  represents hierarchies of decisions and is not necessarily representative of time. Each of the media clips represented by branches may have a different duration to other clips in the same level of the tree. However, the tree only models the fact that a clip is played in its entirety. 
         [0038]    An example of a non-linear narrative in which the clips are the same length would be a football match recorded with multiple cameras to track different players or stadium angles. In this case the non-linear narrative would be generated from the multiple 90 minute sections split into equal length segments of, for example, ten minutes with decision nodes each end of the media segments giving the user the option of switching the focus of the presentation to a different angle or player. Each level in the node hierarchy represents a related ten minute segment of the total presentation. In this type of non-linear narrative, each node in a particular level of the hierarchy has upstream and downstream links to every node in the respective higher and lower levels of the hierarchy giving extensive viewing options maximum flexibility. 
         [0039]    An example of a non-linear narrative in which the clips could be different lengths would be a documentary programme. In this case the levels of hierarchy in the nodes are split according to the level of detail in the information content and upstream and downstream links are set according to subject matter relevance. 
         [0040]    In  FIG. 4 , root node  71  has six branches  72   a,    72   b,    72   c,    72   d,    72   e,    72   f,  each branch leading to first level hierarchy nodes  73   a,    73   b,    73   c,    73   d,    73   e  and  73   f  respectively. The first level nodes  73  collectively have twelve branches  74   a - l  leading to second level nodes  75   a - h . The number of branches  74  is higher than the number of nodes  75  because some of the first level nodes  73  are decision points allowing the user to choose a path through the narrative tree  43 . For example, node  73   b  contains branches  74   b  and  74   c  to nodes  75   b  and  75   c.  The second level nodes  75  collectively have fifteen branches  76   a - o  leading to third level nodes  77   a - f . The third level nodes  77  collectively have fifteen nodes  78   a - o  leading to fourth level nodes  79 . Only nodes  79   a - d  are shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0041]    As mentioned earlier, the non-linear aspect of the non-linear narrative  43  arises because the nodes in the non linear narrative  43  can have more than one downstream branch. 
         [0042]      FIG. 5  shows the data structure of each individual node. Each node data structure contains three main parts, a unique identity field  81 , downstream information  83 ,  85  and upstream node information  87 . The unique identity field  81  allows each node to be uniquely addressed and identified. In this embodiment it is a title to be displayed to the user during navigation. The downstream information  83 ,  85  contains two parts, a field for the identity of a downstream node  83  and the media clip  85  associated with a decision. In  FIG. 5  there are three downstream information fields,  83   a,    85   a,    83   b ,  85   b,    83   c,  and  85   c.  Arriving at this node, the user would be presented with three choices and the clip that is displayed is dependent on the user&#39;s selection. 
         [0043]    The node data structure also contains the identity of any upstream nodes to enable upstream navigation as will be described later. 
         [0044]      FIG. 6  shows the status of the tree structure after a user has navigated along an example path through the tree. In the example, the user is at node  77   c  in the narrative and their path to that node can be summarised as below:
       node  71 →select branch  72   c  
           branch  72   c →node  73   c;      
           node  73   c →select branch  74   d;  
           branch  74   d →node  75   c;      
           node  75   c →select branch  76   g;  
           branch  76   g →node  77   c ;   
           node  77   c →options branch  78   f,    78   g,    78   h  or  78   i.          
 
         [0052]    The path through the narrative tree is shown in bold. 
         [0053]    The user is at node  77   c  and therefore the downstream options are branches  78   f - l  leading to nodes  79   a - d . These nodes are presented to the user as downstream options  5  on the display  3 . The user arrived at node  77   c  from branch  76   g,  it can however also be reached by branch  76   c  originating from node  75   a.  Therefore in the upstream direction, the options  75   c  and  75   a  are presented to the user as upstream options  11  on the display  3 . This information is extracted from the data structure of node  77   c  which as described above contains information of its upstream and downstream nodes. 
         [0054]    Nodes which are not accessible from a user&#39;s location within the narrative are shown as dashed lines in  FIG. 6 . They are not accessible because the narrative does not define any branches from the current node to those nodes. Therefore conventionally, the user would not be able to explore the content associated with those nodes without re-starting the narrative and choosing different options. 
         [0055]    Since upstream nodes are displayed, the user can select and navigate to different parts of the narrative that would not normally be experienced. 
         [0056]    By allowing upstream navigation and in particular displaying options which lead to the current node, the user&#39;s navigation through the non-linear narrative becomes non-linear in both the downstream and upstream directions and also allows lateral movement through the narrative  43 . 
         [0057]    In order to implement the rewind  7  and forward  9  buttons, the non-linear narrative renderer  41  maintains a history of the user&#39;s navigation through the narrative  43  in the narrative log  49 . The log for the above example is shown in  FIG. 7 . The narrative log  49  contains a sequential list of the unique identifiers  81  associated with each node that has been presented to the user, i.e. a number field  91 , a corresponding node identity field  93  and a current location field  95 . Normally the last entry, (with the highest numeric value) in the log denotes the last node that was encountered before the rewind button  7  was selected and hence the current node options displayed to the user. When the user selects the rewind button  7 , the non-linear narrative rendering engine  41  accesses the narrative log to find the next lowest numeric value identifier  91  and updates the current location field  95 . The corresponding node identity  91  is used as a lookup in to the non-linear narrative  43  and the information associated with that node is presented to the user. 
         [0058]    When the user selects the forward button  9 , the non-linear narrative rendering engine  41  determines the current node by accessing the narrative log and the current location field  95 . The node identity of the current node is used as a lookup to the non-linear narrative  43  and the node options are rendered for the user. 
         [0059]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart showing the processing of the non-linear narrative renderer  41 . In step s 1 , the current node in the narrative is loaded from the non-linear narrative  43  and in step s 3 , the identity of the current node in node field  81  is stored in the log  49 . The current node is processed in step s 5  to determine the downstream node identities from downstream node identity fields  83  and the title of those nodes are presented as downstream options in a part of the screen  5 . Next the current node is processed in step s 7  to determine the upstream node identities from upstream node identity fields  87  and the title of those upstream nodes are presented as downstream options in a part of the screen  11 . 
         [0060]    The non-linear narrative renderer  41  waits at step s 9  for an indication from user choice receiver  47  that the user has made a selection for further navigation. Until a selection has not been made, the non-linear narrative renderer  41  is arranged to loop on this step. 
         [0061]    When a selection has been made, the non-linear narrative renderer  41  must determine what has been chosen by the user and take appropriate action. At step s 11 , a test is carried out to determine whether one of the options in the downstream navigation part of the screen  5  was selected. If so, processing proceeds to step s 13  where the media element associated with the selected option is presented to the user. After presentation, at step s 15  the non-linear narrative renderer  41  sets the selected downstream node as the new current node and processing returns to step s 1 . 
         [0062]    If a downstream option was not selected, the processing moves to step s 17  to check whether an upstream option is selected. If the non-linear narrative renderer  41  determines that an upstream option in the upstream navigation part of the screen  11  was selected then at step s 19  the selected upstream node is set as the new current node and processing returns to step s 1 . 
         [0063]    If an upstream option was not selected, processing moves to step s 21  to check whether the rewind button  7  was pressed. If so, at step s 23  the narrative log is accessed and the previous entry to the current node is set as the current node and processing returns to step s 1 . 
         [0064]    If the rewind button  7  was not selected, processing moves to step s 21  to check whether the forward button  9  was pressed. If so, at step s 23  the narrative log is accessed and if present, the entry after the current node is set as the new current node and processing returns to step s 1 . Clearly this option is only possible if the user had previously pressed the back button. 
         [0065]    Processing simply returns to step s 9  if in step s 25  the non-linear narrative renderer  41  cannot determine whether the forward option was selected. 
       Alternatives and Modifications 
       [0066]    In the embodiment, the non-linear narrative itself contained the upstream node information and the non-linear narrative renderer  41  accessed the nodes of the narrative for the upstream node identities. In a modification, for narratives which do not contain upstream node information, the narrative system  1  contains a pre-processor for analysing the non-linear narrative and building a lookup table of the links between nodes. The narrative renderer accesses this lookup table instead of the nodes to determine and display the downstream and upstream navigation options. This enables the non-linear narrative system to be used with a wider range of narratives. 
         [0067]    In the embodiment, the narrative had nodes containing the media clips with the narrative structure information. In an alternative, the narrative is processed to separate the media clips from the narrative tree structure. 
         [0068]    In the embodiment, the non-linear narrative requires the user to choose an upstream or downstream option at the end of each media element. In a modification, each node contains information of a default node and associated media element to be played where no user decision is received. This allows viewing where the user wants to reduce the level of interaction during presentation. 
         [0069]    In the embodiment, a single computer stores and processes the non-linear narrative. In an alternative, a client and server model is adopted. For example, the server stores the non-linear narrative and contains the non-linear renderer processing. In response to user selections forwarded from a user at the client machine, the server determines what to display to the user and streams the appropriate data to the client. 
         [0070]    In the embodiment, the processing of the non-linear narrative, is carried out by a computer, this term is intended to have a wide application and therefore includes any suitable processing device for presenting non-linear narratives such as a television set top box or a mobile phone.