Abstract:
In response to an internet interrogation by a user for goods or services, a hypermedia presentation is provided that starts out with delivery and presentation of simple thumbnail descriptions of the available goods and services, and proceeds in steps through delivery and presentation of more complex descriptions. The presentations are arranged in segments and permit multiple modes of operation. Each mode has a different set of attributes that permit progress through the presentation in a different manner. When a user first enters a website, he is placed in navigation mode which enables him to browse the website by moving from category to category of goods, having an initial look at the offerings of each category. The user can then move on to the inspection and/or transaction modes. In the inspection mode: the user can examine in more detail the various aspects of the goods he is interested in; can change to a more detailed explanation; zoom in on various portions of the goods; and obtain related information. When the user enters the transaction mode, he is apparently ready to purchase the goods and is given appropriate options for this purpose such as: to obtain a quote; to ask for human assistance, and to trigger a transaction. As the user navigates through the presentation in one or more of its modes of operation, his selection process is monitored not only for this overt acts concerning selected goods and services, but also for other factors that may be revealed by the user&#39;s selection process.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/100,418 filed on Jun. 30, 1988 and entitled “Progressive Interleaved Delivery of Interactive Descriptions &amp; Renderers for Electronic Publishing of Merchandise”, which was issued into U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,162 on May 8, 2001 is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to providing media descriptions of objects on the internet and more particularly, to modifying those descriptions as they are presented to the user based on a user&#39;s reaction to the descriptions. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The internet is capable of presenting rich media presentations, containing still images, animated images, video images and audio. One problem with these presentations, is the need to transmit large blocks of code and data to the client. This is a serious impediment for presenting products to electronic commerce customers who are typically connected over low-bandwidth dial-up inks. They cannot be expected to pre-load code and data or wait for very long before their shopping experiences commence. This problem is addressed in the above referenced copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/100,418, entitled “Progressive Interleaved Delivery of Interactive Descriptions &amp; Renderers for Electronic Publishing of Merchandise” filed on Jun. 20, 1988. This copending application is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     A second problem concerns optimized delivery of various rich media to easily and effectively address the right amount of information about the merchandise to each user. Each user has different interests, needs and expectations. The presentations must be able to attract and maintain the attention of users with a wide variety of interests and needs, different personalities and varying attention spans. Gathering and presenting information for these and other purposes needed by the user to express his or her selection preferences is difficult with presently available approaches. 
     Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for providing rich media experiences. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a new method and apparatus to provide rich data experiences tailored to the individual user. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide to the user improved selection capability for navigation in rich media. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, network presentations to be rendered at the user&#39;s terminal are programmed to exploit the advantages of rich media to expand user&#39;s ability to effectively provide information about selection preferences back on the network to the transmitting website as the presentation proceeds. In response to interrogation by a user for goods of services, the system presents a hypermedia presentation that starts out with delivery and presentation of simple thumbnail descriptions of the available goods and services, and proceeds in steps through delivery and presentation of more complex descriptions. The presentations are arranged in segments and permit multiple modes of operation. Each mode has a different set of attributes that permit progress through the presentation in a different manner. When a user first enters a website, he is placed in navigation mode which enables him to browse the website by moving from category to category of goods, having an initial look at the offerings of each category. The user can then move on to the inspection and/or transaction modes. In the inspection mode, the user can examine in more detail the various aspects of the goods he is interested in changing to a more detailed explanation, zoom in on various portions of the goods and obtain related information. When the user enters the transaction mode, he is apparently ready to purchase the goods and is given appropriate options for this purpose such as obtaining a quote, ask for human assistance, and trigger a transaction. 
     As the user navigates through the presentation in one or more of its modes of operation, his selection process is monitored not only for his overt acts concerning selected goods and services, but also for factors revealed by the user&#39;s selection process. Among factors that are analyzed are the time the user spends with various aspects of the presentation; the manner the user prefers to interact with the media (i.e., by mouse, voice or keyboard); and the number of times the user returns to a particular subject. In this way, the system accumulates information about the user and his preference and modifies the presentation on the fly to accommodate them. For instance, if the product to be sold is a vehicle, the system would quickly determine what type of vehicle the user was interested in, the features that he considered important in the car and the desired price range. The presentation would then be modified to emphasize vehicles of the preferred type within the price range the user showed interest in. The presentation would emphasize features the user has shown interest in by expanding the presentation of the features which the user showed interest in. Furthermore, the presentation is changed based on the personality of the user. If the data indicates the user is impatient or has short attention span, the presentation is made short and to the point. If the user is interested in going into details, the presentation is extended to include factors not normality conveyed in the usual presentation. If the user responds to audio, the verbal presentation is emphasized. If he has shown a preference for animation, video segments will be bypassed. Once the user&#39;s interests have been determined, they are presented on a transaction page offering options that can be added to the decided on goods. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A better understanding of the invention can be had by the following description of one embodiment thereof while referring to the accompanying figures of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram which shows a typical selection process; 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B are a block diagram showing a network server in accordance with the present invention connected to a client terminal on the internet; 
     FIG. 3 is a view of the interaction between the client terminal user and network server of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic showing navigation through the hypermedia presentation; 
     FIG. 5 is a graphic representation of the possible modes of operation in the presentation; 
     FIGS. 6A and 6B are a diagram illustrating user selection of movement within and between the modes of operation by using a mouse; 
     FIG. 7 shows the attributes of the various modes of operation; 
     FIG. 8 is a three dimensional representation of the segments of a presentation; 
     FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of movement within the presentation of FIG. 7; 
     FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating the accumulation of data on the customer&#39;s computer as a result of interaction with the server; and 
     FIGS. 11 and 12 are block diagramS of software in the user&#39;s terminal. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 shows a hierarchical description of a portion of the articles being offered for sale at a website. Description level  0  shows the various goods available at the site. To begin with only level  0  information is loaded into a user&#39;s machine. While not loading level  1  and level  2  information until a user interaction sequence leads to such loading appears to be a lazy strategy, the aforementioned copending application provides for material to be loaded when rendering is anticipated during any stage of the presentation for smooth uninterrupted flow of the presentation. 
     As shown here, the selection of goods offered at a website includes vans  100 , four door sedans  102  and accessories  104  for motor vehicles. The illustrated goods are only representative of the selections. The dashed vertical lines that separate the illustrated items from each other indicates that these level  0  items are not adjacent items in the browsable sequence, but are separated by segments of data for other items offered at the website. All the goods or the browsable sequence are linked by some semantic relationship. For instance, the van  100  is linked semantically to the sedan  102  as an item “similar to” it. While the accessories  104  are linked semantically to the sedan  102  by “benefits from” relationship. The user being presented with the level  0  choices on the screen selects what he or she is interested in: say, the purchase of a four door sedan as opposed to a van or an accessory. Where transitioning down from level  0  the level  1  in making a selection within the sedan category transitions are possible across the dashed horizontal lines following an “is a” semantic link. Thus, upon selection of the four-door sedan category, the user is presented with the next level of selections within that category. The level  1  descriptions cover a wide selection of four door sedans divided into price categories (here the range of possible choices is represented by an inexpensive Chevy  106 , medium priced Toyota  10  and a expensive BMW  110 ). Let us assume the user selects the $25,000 Toyota. As provided for in the aforementioned copending application, as the user is proceeding through the process of selection, the material for the presentation is being loaded into the user&#39;s computer. Once the Toyota sedan has been selected, the computer is ready to present as a level  2  description either an animation presentation  112  or a video presentation  114  of the selected sedan. 
     An act of the user with respect to the presentation contains information the user intends to be conveyed by the act. However, other information not intended to be conveyed may be implied from the act. For instance, the choice of the Toyota by the user not only explicitly states his interest in that four door sedan, but can also indicate a price range that he or she is interested in. The selection of a $25,000 car could indicate that the user is interested in a mid-priced car and would not be interested in a more expensive car like a BMW or a less expensive one, such as a small Chevrolet. If the user loses interest in the Toyota sedan he or she is more likely to be interested in another car in the mid-price range than in a high priced luxury car. Therefore, anticipatory loading of presentations should be those of other mid-priced cars, and not those for luxury cars. 
     In addition to conveying information about the goods the user is interested in, the acts relative to the presentation may provide information about the user. For instance, the repeated choice of an animation or video presentation may indicate something about the user&#39;s temperament. By selecting one or the other, the individual may be indicating whether he is interested in details (by selecting the video track), or is impatient and wants information quickly (by selecting the animation track). The length of the presentation can be lengthened or shortened using this information. Also, repetitive acts such as examination of various segments of the animation and video tracks, signals aspects and features of the Camry the user is particularly interested in. As certain segments are repeated, the descriptions of the requested segments can be expanded over and above what would normally be shown. Information obtained with respect to the use&#39;s examination of the Camry presentation can also be used to deliver and render information about other automobiles. Information can also be stored for use when the user links up with the website at a later time looking for other goods or services. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, as the network server  200  interfaces with the user&#39;s terminal  202  over the internet  201 , the user  203  interacts with the visual and audible presentations provided to the terminal  202  by the server  200 , and software  204  at the user terminal monitors the user&#39;s actions. This software is provided by the network server  200  to the user&#39;s terminal  202  when product information is initially requested from the website. 
     The data obtained by the logic  204  is provided over the internet  201  to the server  200  through its network interface  205 . The network interface provides this data to the delivery logic  206  in the modelling interpretation logic  207 . If the request that can be responded to without interpretation (for instance, a change from the level  0  descriptions to level  1  descriptions), the request is sent by the delivery logic  206  to the presentation files  208  described in the previously mentioned co-pending application. The presentation files provide the requested information which is shipped out in packets  209  and  211  to the client terminal. The delivery logic may also obtain requested information through a media server interface  211  from outside media servers  212   a  to  212   n.    
     If the request requires interpretation, the network interface provides the information to the modelling interpretation logic  207  which interfaces various software engines  214  to  217  through the non-media engine interface  213 . Delivery data is then synthesized for delivery at the network server  200  by putting together in the delivery logic  206  segments from the presentation files  208  and/or media content segments from external media servers  212 . The determined as to what the delivery logic  206  should deliver comes from both direct input from the client side through the network interface on new content request, and from the modeling and interpretation logic  207 . The modeling and interpretation logic  207  receives all inputs from the user&#39;s terminal through the network interface  205 , and processes them to provide even more sophisticated responses back to the user in the form of delivery data. To accomplish this, the modeling and interpretation logic not only builds and maintains its own simple session, state and user-model information, but through a non-media engine interface  213  also uses external user-model building, data base search, and statistics gathering engines  214 ,  215  and  216  respectively. 
     The modelling interpretation logic  207  takes the user interaction data and provides it to the statistics gathering engine  214  which collates the information provided by the interaction data. The interpretation logic then provides the collated information to the user model building engine  215 . The user model building engine analyzes the collated information about the user&#39;s actions and builds a model which not only indicates what the user is interested in, but includes an analysis of the user&#39;s personal characteristics that will enable modification of the presentation to maintain the user&#39;s interest. In addition, the statistical engine  210  can gather user navigational statistics across a multitude of users and derive conclusions about the popularity of products and features. The user model generated by the user model building engine  215  is used by the modeling and interpretation logic  207  in gathering information from the presentation files and outside files to generate a delivery file to transmit to the user over the internet. It is also used by the modeling and interpretation logic to change the rendering of the user&#39;s screen and to interrogate the database and search engine  215  of the system. The database search engine  215  provides search results for more complex user queries which are adequately expressed and handled in the rich-media content of the presentation files. Detailed product or feature information which are not expressed in the rich-media content can be obtained from the database search engine and converted by the modeling and interpretation logic  207  to deliverable form to be delivered to the user as presentation data  209 . 
     From the above, it should be apparent that there is a presentation interaction update loop  218  in which the delivery model by which data is delivered and presented to the user is constantly having updated in response to user requests and his response to the material presented. In modifying the delivery model in this way, interest is maintained in the presentation because information that may have been delivered to the user but at a later time becomes apparent that it is of not interest to the user is not rendered. Further, details of the portions of a presentation the user has shown interested in are delivered to the user&#39;s terminal and rendered when requested. For instance, instead of providing the user with full video clips, only those portions of the video clip that he has shown particular interest in will be provided. If the user shows particular interest in a aspect of the goods, say the engine in the Camry, the details of that engine will be provided by the database search engine even though it is not included in the rich-media presentation. 
     The user can provide by simple interaction with media his selection of features which the modeling and interpretation logic  218  can be put together to constitute a complex query. For example he can click on a feature like ABS and a certain seat cover illustration to indicate that he wants the ABS feature, and he would like the texture of seats that is illustrated. The modeling and interpretation logic would construct a query from this and after obtaining a response from the database engine  215 , synthesize a response for the client. Therefore, it can be seen that as a user analyzes and selects information on the terminal, he knowingly and unknowingly provides information on what his interests and personality are. This information is used in tailoring the presentation so that it retains his attention. 
     FIG. 3 contains an example of data movement resulting from the presentation interaction update loop  218  shown in FIG. 2, By making a level  0  description selection  300 , the user selects certain data sets of the level  1  descriptors  302 . The selected level  1  descriptor sets are concatenated and provided to the user&#39;s machine  304 . An analysis and selection process of the level  1  descriptors  304  by the user results in transmission to the user&#39;s computer of both an animated descriptors from media track one, and a video description from media track two. Again, certain data sets are selected from the presentation files in the server, and concatenated to make up the media track presentation sent to the user&#39;s machine. As pointed out above, not all the data in the delivery file sent to the user&#39;s machine gets displayed. Instructions from the network server to the client&#39;s terminal in response to user&#39;s actions and the user model will determine what is actually presented. 
     Another example of a typical selection process is shown in FIG. 4. A website presents level  0  descriptors of various items such as cars, real estate, consumer electronics and computers are presented to the user of which the user has selected real-estate  402 . This selection transaction provides descriptions  404  which are presented in a level one presentation  406 . Of the choices presented in the level one presentation, the user has selected ranch properties  408 . In selecting ranch properties the user has caused the server to obtain data on ranch type houses  410  in which the user has elected to start out with an animation track  412 . The animation track is divided into a number of areas, for instance, front view of the house, rear view of the house and the hallway. By dwelling on certain aspects of the house and ignoring others, the user indicates his particular interests. For instance, should be would pay particular attention to bathrooms or kitchens and little attention to the neighborhood in which the house is located, he is indicating what aspects of the properties he has particular interest in. After reviewing the animation media, the user decides that he wants to review the video track  414 . Here the user again dwells on certain portions of the video as opposed to other portions. In so doing, the user provides information, both intentionally and unintentionally, as to what he is interested in and not interested in. 
     Referring now to FIG. 5, the system operates in three different modes. One is the navigational mode  501  where the user has selected a website and browses the choices available on the website. This mode would be equivalent to movement in level  1  or between level  0  and level  1  description levels of FIG. 1 where the user moves between categories, selects a category and examines choices within the selected category. The second mode is an inspection mode  502  in which the user has selected some item that be is interested in and is looking for more information about that item, This level is equivalent to movement in level  1  such as switching back and forth between the choices in the category, view animation or video of a selection zoom in on points of interest of the selection etc. The third mode is the transaction mode  503  where the user has reached the point where he is probably interested in purchasing his selection and is looking for details that he is interested in. When the user enters this either purposely or inadvertently, he is probably ready to transaction business and is given choices to facilitate the transaction. He can selected features, obtain quotes, request a sales representative, etc. 
     The user can move from one mode to another and move out of the system at any point in the system paths  504 ,  505 ,  506 ,  507 ,  508  and  509  permit free movement between the various modes. As shown in FIG. 6, movement within a mode can be accomplished by the lick of the mouse. As shown, this movement along paths  601  and  602  within navigation and inspection modes  601  and  602  is done with a single click of the left mouse button between selectable attributes in that mode, while movement in the transaction mode along paths  603  or  604  is performed by a single click of the left or right hand mouse buttons respectively to select features or to review selections. Movement between two adjacent modes in the forward direction or in other words, from navigation mode  501  to inspection mode  502  or from inspection mode  502 , to transaction mode  503  is performed by a double click on the left mouse button. Movement backwards or closing is performed by clocking on the appropriate icon: for instance, going from transaction mode back to inspection mode or from inspection mode back to click on the previous mode icon  605  going from any mode to the finish would be done by selecting the close icon  606 . The tables in this figure summarize certain information about the modes. 
     FIG. 7 shows actionable attributes that can be enabled in each of the previously discussed modes in connection with various regions  701 ,  702  and  703  appearing on the user&#39;s screen. The navigation mode region  701  can enable the user to move between categories, such as cars or houses or home furnishings, by enabling the next category attribute  404 . He can also move within a category to examine the various members of the category  705 . For instance, if he has previously selected the automobile category he could scan between the BMW&#39;s, Camry&#39;s and other cars. The user can also look for an equivalent  707  for four-door sedans: he can choose from SUVs, vans or pickup tracks. He can also backstep to the overall category  707 . If he is in the automobile category, he can backstep to other categories offered by the website such as houses or furnishings  708 . 
     In the inspection mode choices are available in region  702  for the user to pan his selection for available options  708 . He can also spin and animate the goods  709  so he can view them from various angles and can zoom in on the goods  710 . He can change the resolution of the display  711 ; change from an animation to a video presentation  712  and can obtain related information  713  such as cost and warranty terms. 
     In the transaction mode, choices are made available in region  703  for the user to obtain a quote on what he intends to purchase  714 , select features that he is interested in  715 , examine what features are available  716 , query the computer for items in the same price range  717 , call for a live sales representative  718  and complete the transaction  719 . He can select features  715  by simple clicks on features exposing attributes for example. By clicking on a red colored object in the image being displayed, he can select the color red. By clicking on the sun-roof in the display of a car, he can select the sun-roof feature. When he makes a query  714  next, it would automatically include his preference for a red colored car with sun-roof. 
     Information provided by the actionable attributes is provided to an action handler  720  on the user&#39;s terminal and forward to the modeling and interpretation logic  228  of FIG. 2 which responds to provide the material  721  requested by the interaction back to the user. Besides the information provided by the actions taken with respect to the regions  701  to  703 , information on how the user interacts with the computer  722  (obtained as hereinafter described in connection with FIG. 10) is provided after the action handler  720 . 
     As shown in FIG. 8, as the user scans through a presentation he passes from one data segment to another  801   a  to  801   n  of the presentation. Switching between the segments  801   a  to  801   n  in sequence can be; automatic at preset intervals; can be initiated by the user at his request; or can be a combination of automatic and manual actions. In each segment  801  a portion or the whole of the segment appears on the screen  802  of the user&#39;s computer. The user can expand the view to cover the whole segment, reduce the view to minimize the area of the segment that can be viewed, or can move the view to select material within the section that can be viewed. (For instance, he could move the view to eliminate region  1  and include the whole of region  2 .) 
     By clicking on any given region, the user may or may not be able to obtain a reaction by the computer to the clicking. For instance, by clicking on region one he is able to move into transaction mode from navigation mode and exercise the actionable attributes of the transaction mode and by clicking on region  2  the user can move between the transaction, inspection and navigation modes to exercise attributes of each. The available attributes can be articulated in the region or may be intuitive. Once he has exhausted his interest in a segment, the segment will move to the next segment in the presentation sequence. As pointed out, he can have segment change completely under his control and/or move from segment to segment at a preset rate. That rate is adjustable by the user to a rate he is comfortable with. Of course if a selection is made, the selection may result in a segment change which is out of sequence, for instance constitute a movement from segment  801   a  to  801   n −1. 
     In FIG. 9, a flow diagram of the systems response to the user&#39;s selection process is shown. On opening a presentation, the system defaults into navigation mode  901  and the user selects automatic or semiautomatic presentations of the data segments  902 . The system then displays the first segment  801   a  of FIG. 8 for user response. The machine then checks to see if an annotated region is in view  905 . If no annotated region of the segment is in view, the screen view is changed  902  until one does come in view or a user interaction  906  or exit signal  908 . When an annotated region is in view  905 , the machine checks to see if attributes will be displayed automatically from that view or alternately must be selected by the user. If some attributes are displayed automatically, the computer displays such attributes  907 . The machine checks to see if user interactions takes place  906 . If no user interaction takes place, the segment is reset in automatic or in semiautomatic mode  902 . If an exit signal  908  is detected, the session ends  911 . 
     If the user&#39;s action involves a mode change  912 , the machine returns to the set mode step  901  and the process represented by steps  901  through  912  is repeated with the exception that a mode reset may not involve a segment change. If the user action does not involve a mode change but a segment change is involved, the process returns to check the annotated segment view of step  905  and proceeds back through steps  907  to  901  or directly to  901 , as previously described. If no mode or segment change is involved with the interaction and an annotated region is in view, the user gets to activate an action  915  of an enabled attribute causing a system response if the interaction is an action trigger  916 . If it is not, the user gets to enable new attributes of the interaction in an attribute enabler  918 . As a consequence of activating actions  915 , the machine returns to step  902 , depending on the affect of the user&#39;s action. If no annotated region is in view in step  914 , or if interaction is not an action trigger, step  916  as well is not an attribute enabler in step  918 . Then the process returns to step  992  on continuation of presentation and monetary interactions. 
     As pointed out above, copending U.S. application, Ser. No. 09/100,418, discusses how the transmission of code and data of the expressed decisions of the user are transmitted from the user&#39;s machine to the server to model the response in accordance with the user&#39;s wishes. In accordance with the present invention, information about the user&#39;s personality is transmitted to the server  1000  along with the overt decisions of the user. As shown in FIG. 10, after selection of the automatic or semiautomatic presentation  1001  of the material the software transmitted to the user&#39;s station tracks his interaction  1002  with the machine. It notes whether the user is asking for more detail  1003 ; is using a semantic link  1004 ; and checks whether an item brought into view  1005  is a new item or one that has been revisited. A counter keeps track of the number of times a site is revisited and when that number exceeds a threshold level (say three times), that fact is noted  1006 . In addition to the above information, the computer monitors the time the user spends on a screen  1007 . The hovering time is checked  1008  and when the hovering time exceeds threshold that information is noted. The user reactions of steps  1003  to  1006  and step  1008  are transmitted back to the server  1009 . Unless the session is terminated  1010  and the user exits the website  1011 , the process continues to monitor the user&#39;s interactions  1002  in steps  1003  to  1008 . As the user actions provide information, it is used by the server to alter the data provided to the user&#39;s terminal. For instance, the users continued revisiting of a material covering a particular portion of a product or dwelling could invoke the server to provide more information about that part of the product. An example of this would be to provide more information of an automobile engine when the user shows particular interest in that part of the car. 
     The server also provides instruction to the user&#39;s terminal to control the rendering of the presentations on the user&#39;s terminal. Referring to FIG. 11, logic provided to the user&#39;s computer includes a user interaction interface  1101  for interfacing user&#39;s action relative to the presentation. The use interaction interface interprets the action of the user dividing the action into categories; the first category being an action requiring a change of material appearing on the screen. A response to this action is provided to the action handler module  1102  which provides an action command to a command and transaction interface  1103  to the internet connection to the web server. The action handler module contains a table lookup of action triggering inputs and the consequent action commands. This table is loaded into the action handler module as action definition data from the server through the data fetch buffer and compose module  1109  on initial loading of the data and software. A second category of user action involves a change in mode or exposing an attribute. In response to this type of action, a command is provided to the intramode and intermode client logic  1104 . The intramode and intermode client logic provides inputs to the action handler module  1102  as to the mode of operation and exposed attributes involved in the action triggering input so that the action handler module can modify the action command based on these inputs. The intramode and intermode client logic  1104  receives region description data and attribute data from the server through the data fetch buffer and compose module  1109 . A third category of user action involves a media transition, the action is conveyed to the client master module  1105 . Client master module controls the selection process of the various types of media involved represented by animation and video presentation  1106  and  1107  respectively; activating the appropriate media type in accordance with a media transition request imbedded in a user action. The client master module  1105  responds to accumulated behavior data provided by the server through the data fetch buffer and compose module  1109 , and provides data requests to the data fetch buffer and compose module to be transmitted to the server where such data is needed. The client master module also provides a signal to the action handler module  1102  to provide the appropriate action command to the commands and transactions interface to the server side  1103 . A fourth category of user action provides, through the user media interface  1108 , controls to manipulate the video, animation and other presentations rendered to the user at the user&#39;s terminal. As pointed out above, the client master module  1105  provides data requests to the data fetch and buffer control module  1109  when the action requires data from the server. Media data is provided to the track and data demultiplexor  1111 . The data fetch and buffer module  1109  also provides accumulated behavior data from the server to the client master module  1105  as to what media data to present to the user based on the user model. 
     The content of data fetch buffer and compose module is shown in FIG.  12 . Data requests from the client master module are fed into a request handler module  1201  which feeds the request through the data fetching module  1202  out into the internet. In response to the data fetching module, data received on the internet is fed by the data fetching module  1202  into the data parser and demultiplexor  1203 . The parser divides the information into three categories: one is a table of the received content  1204 , second is media data sent to a media data module  1205  and third is media data sent to a meta data manager  1206 . The outputs of the table and the two managers are sent to a composer  1207  which dives the data into the various signals produced by the buffer. The action definition data, the region description data and the attribute data and the behavior data being the meta data while the track data is media data. 
     As should be apparent, the above described hypermedia delivery infrastructure over a network which has several advantages. 
     Firstly, it enables the optimized delivery of hypermedia content to client terminals. This is achieved by associating descriptive attributes with media stream segments and sending these attributes along with the link information concerning which media segments they refer to, ahead of the media segments themselves. 
     Secondly, by employing hypermedia navigation and interaction as the means of providing user input, it offers a vastly extended space to gather user input for building user models for targeted content delivery as well as input expressing user selections and queries. The success of intelligent user modeling engines rest on the availability of a sizeable amount of input data from the user pertaining to his or her tastes, preferences and attitudes. 
     Thirdly, the framework enables the dynamic personalization of content based on the continuous refinement of the user model being synthesized on the network server. This results in the delivery to the user&#39;s terminal, updated media stream data that more closely represents the user&#39;s taste and preferences as determined currently by the user model. 
     Another advantage, is the delivery to the user&#39;s terminal of updates to the descriptive attributes of media stream data while the media stream data itself is not updated. Essentially, this amounts to describing the exact same content in a different way after having attained a better understanding of the user&#39;s attitudes and tastes. 
     A further advantage is that of delivering to the client terminal, updates to the navigational semantics after having attained a better understanding of the user&#39;s navigational preferences. For example, the user model could take note of the user&#39;s preference for certain media types and employment of certain preferred navigational activity within them, and help redefine the user interaction semantics to make this subset of activity extremely easy to invoke. 
     Above we have described one embodiment of the present invention. A number of modifications and improvements may be made in this embodiment by those skilled in the art. Therefore, it should be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to this described embodiment but encompasses the scope and spirit of the appended claims.