Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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GRAPHICALLY REPRESENTING ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN
REFERENTS AND STORIES
BACKGROUND
[0001] Books, movies, audio books, and other forms of storytelling
often include
in their narratives a wide range of characters, themes, subject matter,
events, etc. A reader,
viewer, listener, or other consumer of these narratives may enjoy a particular
narrative or
story for a variety of reasons, including one or more of the characters,
themes, subject matter,
and/or events referenced in the narrative. Two or more stories may have
references in
common. For example, two stories may each be set in the same time period and
location,
include the same historical person or fictional character, and/or relate to
similar subject
matter. Typically, a reader, viewer or other consumer who enjoys a particular
story is not
able to quickly explore or learn of similar stories based on the aspect of the
story that they
enjoyed, such as a particular character, time period, place or subject.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0002] The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages will
become
more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to
the following
detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
[0003] FIGURE 1 is a block diagram depicting an illustrative operating
environment in which a user of a computing device may view graphical
representations of
associations between stories and referents.
[0004] FIGURE 2 depicts a general architecture of a story server for
causing
display of graphical representations of associations between stories and
referents.
[0005] FIGURE 3 is an illustrative user interface generated by the
story server
that displays a graphical representation of a storyline with indicia
representing the strength of
association between points in the storyline and a referent of interest.
[0006] FIGURE 4 is an illustrative user interface generated by the
story server
that displays a graphical representation of a storyline with indicia
representing the strength of
association between points in the storyline and two referents of interest.
[0007] FIGURE 5 is an illustrative user interface generated by the
story server
that displays a graphical story map representation for a set of stories, and
that enables a user
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to assign relative weights to different referents of interest for display in
the graphical
representation.
[0008] FIGURE 6 is an illustrative user interface generated by the
story server
that displays a graphical representation for a set of stories, where an
indicium for each story
graphically indicates the strength of association between the story and
referents of interest.
[0009] FIGURE 7 is an illustrative user interface generated by the
story server
that enables a user to create a custom signature by selecting stories of
interest to the user,
where the custom signature may be used by the story server to generate a
graphical
representation of one or more stories.
[0010] FIGURE 8 is an illustrative user interface generated by the
story server
that enables a user to create a custom signature by selecting referents of
interest to the user,
and/or by selecting portions of a story of interest to the user.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] Generally described, aspects of the present disclosure relate
to graphically
representing relationships between one or more stories and one or more
referents of interest
to a user. For example, aspects of the present disclosure present for display
a graphical
representation of a number of stories, where an indicium for each story
represented includes
a color or other indication of the relative strength of association between
the story and one or
more referents of interest to a user. Other aspects of the present disclosure
relate to
presenting for display a graphical representation of number of points in a
story, where each
point in the story includes a color or other indication of the relative
strength of association
between the point in the story and one or more referents of interest to a
user. For example, a
point in the story may be associated with a referent if the referent is
referenced in or related
to the content of the story at the given point. A referent may generally be
anything referred
to by a story, such as a place, object, real person, fictional character,
concept, subject, event,
time, and/or visual or mental image.
[0012] In some embodiments, a graphical representation as disclosed
herein may
be considered a "heat map" or "story map" corresponding to a story or set of
stories. A color
or pattern displayed in a given portion or indicium of the representation may
be determined,
for example, based on the relative strength of association between one or more
referents of
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interest and the story represented by the given indicium. The story map or
other graphical
representation may be presented for display such that a user may select an
indicium from the
representation in order to view additional information related to the story
(or point in a story)
represented by the given indicium. In this manner, a graphical representation
as disclosed
herein may enable a user to view a visual summary of the relative strength of
association
between various stories and one or more referents of interest to the user. The
user may then
explore stories of interest in more depth. Other graphical representations
discussed herein
may, for example, enable the user to view a visual summary of the relative
strength of
association between one or more referents of interest to the user and
individual points within
a given story.
[0013] As used herein, a "story" may generally refer to any narrative,
such as a
narrative depiction of an act, occurrence and/or course of events, whether or
not in
chronological order or any other type of sequence. A story may be fictional,
nonfictional, or
a mixture of both. A story or narrative may be embodied in some medium, such
as text,
audio, images, and/or video. A given embodiment of a story may be referred to
herein as a
"version" of the story. For example, a given story may be embodied in one or
more book
versions, one or more movie versions, one or more audio book versions, one or
more poem
versions, etc. These different versions of a particular story may differ in
medium and/or in
details of the narrative itself. A "story" may also be referred to herein as a
"work."
[0014] FIGURE 1 depicts an illustrative operating environment in which
a user of
a computing device may view graphical representations of associations between
stories and
referents. The depicted environment includes a computing device 102 and a
story server 120
communicatively connected by a network 108, such as the Internet. Those
skilled in the art
will recognize that the computing device 102 may be any of a number of
computing devices
that are capable of communicating over a network including, but not limited
to, a laptop,
personal computer, tablet, personal digital assistant (PDA), hybrid PDA/mobile
phone,
mobile phone, electronic book reader, digital media player, and the like. In
some
embodiments, the story server 120 may provide front-end communication with
various user
devices, such as computing device 102, via network 108. The front-end
communication
provided by the story server 120 may include generating text and/or graphics,
possibly
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organized as a user interface using hypertext transfer or other protocols in
response to
information inquiries received from the various user devices.
[0015] The story server 120, which will be described below in more
detail, may
be connected to or in communication with a story data store 112. Those skilled
in the art will
appreciate that the story data store 112 may be local to the story server 120,
may be remote to
the story server 120, and/or may be a network-based service itself. Those
skilled in the art
will appreciate that the network 108 may be any wired network, wireless
network or
combination thereof. In addition, the network 108 may be a personal area
network, local area
network, wide area network, cable network, satellite network, cellular
telephone network,
etc., or combination thereof. Protocols and components for communicating via
the Internet
or any of the other aforementioned types of communication networks are well
known to
those skilled in the art of computer communications and, thus, need not be
described in more
detail herein.
[0016] The system 100 is depicted in FIGURE 1 as operating in a
distributed
computer environment comprising several computer systems that are
interconnected using
one or more computer networks. The system 100 could also operate within a
computer
system having a fewer or greater number of components than are illustrated in
FIGURE 1.
Thus, the depiction of system 100 in FIGURE 1 should be taken as illustrative
and not
limiting to the present disclosure. For example, the system 100 could
implement various
Web services components (including but not limited to virtual utility
computing services,
a.k.a. "cloud computing services") and peer-to-peer network configurations to
implement at
least a portion of the processes.
[0017] Though not illustrated in FIGURE 1, in some embodiments, the
environment may also include a retail server that facilitates electronic
browsing and
purchasing of goods and services using various user devices, such as computing
device 102.
For example, a retail server may obtain information on available goods and
services (or
"items") from one or more data stores (not illustrated), as is done in
conventional electronic
commerce systems. Items may include, for example, versions of stories that are
available for
purchase, such as books, audio books, movies, etc. In other embodiments, the
story
server 120 may access item data from the story data store 112 and/or other
data sources,
either internal or external to system 100.
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[0018] FIGURE 2 depicts a general architecture of a story server 120
for causing
display of graphical representations of associations between stories and
referents. The
general architecture of the story server 120 depicted in FIGURE 2 includes an
arrangement
of computer hardware and software components that may be used to implement
aspects of
the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
story server 120 may
include many more (or fewer) components than those shown in FIGURE 2. It is
not
necessary, however, that all of these generally conventional components be
shown in order to
provide an enabling disclosure. As illustrated in FIGURE 2, the story server
120 includes a
network interface 206, a processing unit 204, an input/output device interface
220, an
optional display 202, an optional input device 224, and a computer readable
medium
drive 207, all of which may communicate with one another by way of a
communication bus.
The network interface 206 may provide connectivity to one or more networks or
computing
systems. The processing unit 204 may thus receive information and instructions
from other
computing systems or services via a network. The processing unit 204 may also
communicate to and from memory 210 and further provide output information for
an
optional display 202 via the input/output device interface 220. The
input/output device
interface 220 may also accept input from an optional input device 224, such as
a keyboard,
mouse, digital pen, touchscreen, etc.
[0019] The memory 210 contains computer program instructions that the
processing unit 204 executes in order to implement one or more embodiments.
The
memory 210 generally includes RAM, ROM and/or other persistent, non-transient
memory.
The memory 210 may store an operating system 214 that provides computer
program
instructions for use by the processing unit 204 in the general administration
and operation of
the story server 120. The memory 210 may further include computer program
instructions
and other information for implementing aspects of the present disclosure. For
example, in
one embodiment, the memory 210 includes a user interface module 212 that
generates user
interfaces (and/or instructions therefor) for display upon a computing device,
e.g., via a
navigation interface such as a web browser installed on the computing device.
In addition,
memory 210 may include or communicate with an auxiliary story data store 112.
Data stored
in the story data store 112 may include information associated with stories
and their various
versions (such as title, publisher, year of publication, etc.); story content
(such as text of a
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book, audio of an audio book, a digital copy of a movie, etc.); and/or
referents associated
with stories.
[0020] In addition to the user interface module 212, the memory 210
may include
a story module 216 that may be executed by the processing unit 204. In one
embodiment, the
story module 216 implements various aspects of the present disclosure, e.g.,
determining a
score for a story based on a number of associations between the story and one
or more
referents of interest to a user, determining graphical indicia to represent
relationships
between stories and referents, etc., as described further below. While the
story module 216 is
shown in FIGURE 2 as part of the story server 120, in other embodiments, all
or a portion of
a story module may be a part of a user's computing device, such as computing
device 102.
For example, in certain embodiments of the present disclosure, computing
device 102 may
include several components that operate similarly to the components
illustrated as part of the
story server 120, including a user interface module, story module, processing
unit, computer
readable medium drive, etc. In such embodiments, the computing device 102 may
communicate with a story data store, such as story data store 112.
[0021] FIGURE 3 is an illustrative user interface 300 generated by the
story
server 120 that displays a graphical representation of a storyline 310 with
indicia
representing the strength of association between points in the storyline and a
referent of
interest 304. The user interface 300 includes information 320 associated with
a referent
referenced by the story at point 316 of the graphical representation of the
storyline 310. As
shown, the user interface 300 is displayed via a browser operating upon a
computing device,
such as computing device 102, utilized by a user. As illustrated, user
interface 300 includes
story version information 302 for the "Hamlet" story. Story version
information 302
includes an electronic book version by Classic Publishers, an audio book
version by ABC
Publishers, and a movie version by XYZ Pictures. Story version information 302
additionally includes a listing of the number of other versions available,
including twelve
other electronic book versions, four other audio book versions, three other
movie versions,
and eight versions of other types. A user may select the listing of versions
available in order
to be presented with one or more additional user interfaces that include
identification
information for the additional versions not displayed in user interface 300.
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[0022] User interface 300 includes a referent of interest option 304,
indicating
that the user has selected the "King Claudius" referent, which is of the
referent type
"Fictional Person." As discussed above, referents may be of a variety of
types, such as a
place, object, real person, fictional character, concept, subject, event, time
period, etc. The
user may have selected the "King Claudius" referent, for example, because the
user is
interested in the King Claudius character and would like to view a graphical
representation of
where and/or how often the character is referenced in or otherwise associated
with the
Hamlet story. As shown in display key or display spectrum 306, the display
spectrum for
storyline representation 310 in FIGURE 3 consists of three potential states:
white, a first
pattern and a second pattern. The three potential states are shown as patterns
for illustrative
purposes only, and may represent colors, according to some embodiments. For
example, the
three potential states may be (from left to right) white, light blue, and dark
blue.
Alternatively, the display spectrum shown in display key 306 may be a color
gradient that
includes a continuous spectrum from one color to a second color (such as from
white to
blue), such that a large number of distinct colors or intensities of a color
may be displayed.
As used herein, a relative intensity of a color may broadly refer to, for
example, a brightness,
saturation, shade, and/or amount of the given color, depending on the
embodiment. As
discussed below, a relative strength of association between a point in the
story and a given
referent is graphically displayed in storyline graphical representation 310 by
an indicium
(e.g., indicium 312) that includes a color or pattern from the given display
spectrum 306. A
lower strength of association is represented by a color or pattern shown
further to the left in
the display spectrum 306, and a higher strength of association is represented
by a color or
pattern shown further to the right in display spectrum 306.
[0023] Illustrative user interface 300 also includes additional
referent options 308,
from which the user may select one or more additional referents to be
graphically represented
in storyline representation 310, as will be discussed below in reference to
FIGURE 4. It will
be appreciated that a wide variety of referent types may be presented other
than those listed
in referent options 308 (which include events, places, real people, fictional
people, subjects,
and times). For example, one or more style referent types may be included that
refer to a
style of the content of a story. A style, in some embodiments, may be
determined based on
the use of archaic language, the use of profanity, and/or the presence of
other indicators of a
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given style. Some referent types may be specific to a format of a given
version of a story.
For example, a referent type of "cinematic style" may be relevant to a movie
version of story,
but not relevant to a book version of a story. In some embodiments, a
storyline
representation, such as storyline representation 310, may correspond to a
single version of a
story, while in other embodiments it may correspond to multiple versions,
including versions
in different formats.
[0024] A graphical representation of a storyline, such as graphical
storyline
representation 310, may generally be considered to graphically represent a
story or version of
a story as a set of points in narrative order, where each point may be
displayed with a
corresponding indicium. The narrative order of a point relative to another
point may be
based on the order that the two points appear in the narrative, which may or
may not
correspond to the chronological order of events described at the given points
in the narrative.
For example, a given story may describe an action of an adult character at a
first point in the
narrative, and then in a later point in the narrative describe a formative
event of that
character's childhood. In that case, a storyline representation may include an
indicium for
the first point prior to an indicium for the second point (which is the order
in which the points
appear in the narrative), rather than in the chronological order that the
events occurred in the
character's life. In some embodiments, an alternative or additional
representation of a story
or version of a story may represent points of the narrative in chronological
order (not
illustrated in FIGURE 3). The "point" corresponding to a given indicium may be
defined at
different levels of particularity, such as by word, paragraph, page, sentence,
line, paragraph,
coordinates, act, scene, beat, chapter, frame, time, etc., and may depend on
the format of the
underlying work. In some embodiments, a user may specify a level of
particularity (for
example, word level, paragraph level, chapter level, etc.) to be represented
by each indicium.
In some embodiments, the user may be able to adjust the level of particularity
in order to
display more of less detail, or to "zoom" in or out on a specific portion of
the storyline
representation (not illustrated in FIGURE 3).
[0025] Storyline graphical representation 310 includes a number of
indicia, such
as indicia 312, 314 and 316, each of which may correspond to a point in the
Hamlet story.
Each indicium, such as indicia 312, 314 and 316, includes a color or pattern
representing the
relative strength of association between the "King Claudius" referent and the
point in the
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story corresponding to the given indicium. As discussed below, the relative
strength of
association between the point in the story and the King Claudius referent may
be determined
by the story server 120 based in part on referent data stored in story data
store 112. The
referent data stored in story data store 112 may include associations between
referents and
stories (or points in stories). The referent associations stored in story data
store 112 may
have been determined in a variety of ways, such as by the systems and methods
disclosed in
related co-owned and co-pending U.S. Patent Application Serial Number
12/881,021, entitled
"SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ASSOCIATING STORIES WITH RELATED
REFERENTS," filed September 13, 2010, which is incorporated herein by
reference in its
entirety.
[0026] As shown in storyline representation 310, indicium 312 is
colored white
(or the color corresponding to the far left of the display spectrum 306),
which may represent
that the Hamlet story does not reference the King Claudius referent at the
corresponding
point in the story. For example, indicium 312 may correspond to a point in the
Hamlet story
at which the King Claudius character is not present in the scene and in which
the King
Claudius character is not mentioned. Indicium 314 includes a color
corresponding to the
middle of the display spectrum 306 (which may be, for example, a light blue).
Indicium 314
may correspond to a point in the Hamlet story, for example, at which the King
Claudius
character is briefly discussed or mentioned but is not present in the scene.
Lastly,
indicium 316 includes a color corresponding to the far right of the display
spectrum 306
(which may be, for example, a dark blue). Indicium 316 may correspond to a
point in the
Hamlet story, for example, at which the King Claudius character is speaking,
or is otherwise
a focus of the story content.
[0027] The story server 120 may generally determine the color,
pattern, or other
graphical indication for each indicium, such as indicia 312, 314 and 316,
based on the
relative strength of association between the point in the story represented by
the indicium and
the referent of interest to the user (in this case, the King Claudius
referent). In some
embodiments, the strength of association may be retrieved from story data
store 112. For
example, the strength of association between a point and a given referent may
have been
stored in story data store 112 as a result of a user indicating the
association and its strength,
or as a result of an automated analysis of the text or other content of a
version of the story. In
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other embodiments, the story server 120 may determine the strength of
association between
the point in the story and the referent of interest by determining a score for
the point in the
story.
[0028] The
score for a given point in the story may be determined, in some
embodiments, based on the number of associations that the given point in the
story has with
the referent of interest to the user. For example, if a "point" in storyline
310 corresponds to a
page of content of an electronic book version of the story, the story server
120 may
determine the score for that point by determining the number of times that the
King Claudius
character is referenced by or otherwise associated with the content of that
page. In some
embodiments, the story server 120 may determine a score for each point in the
story, and
then optionally normalize the scores, such that the color or pattern in the
far right of the
display spectrum 306 will correspond to the highest score determined by the
story server 120.
For example, in embodiments in which a score is calculated for each point in
the story, the
color of indicium 312 may have been selected by the story server 120 as a
result of the story
server determining a relatively low score or a zero score for the point
corresponding to
indicium 312. The color of indicium 316 may have been selected by the story
server 120 as a
result of the story server determining a relatively high score for the point
corresponding to
indicium 316.
[0029]
Each of the points or indicia shown in storyline representation 310 may be
associated with referent information, similar to referent information 320 that
is associated
with the point corresponding to indicia 316. Referent information 320
corresponds to
fictional person referent "King Claudius," and includes selectable text "View
'King
Claudius' page" that may be selected by the user in order to view a user
interface that
includes additional information regarding the King Claudius referent.
Referent
information 320 additionally includes a listing of points in specific versions
of Hamlet for
which the "King Claudius" referent has been associated or "tagged" by a user
identified by
user name "User123." As illustrated in user interface 300, the user may select
"view text"
option 322 in order to view a portion of electronic book content, such as text
and/or image
data, corresponding to the point in the story at indicia 316. For example,
selection of the
view text" option 322 may result in the story server 120 generating for
display one or more
user interfaces that include a portion of book content retrieved from story
data store 112 that
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includes an implicit or explicit reference to a character named "King
Claudius." Similarly,
selection of "listen" option 324 may enable a user to listen to a portion of a
narrated audio
recording of the Hamlet story that references a character named "King
Claudius," which may
be retrieved from story data store 112 or another data store.
[0030] In some embodiments, a user may select an indicium at a given
point in
the storyline 310 in order to view referent information regarding a variety of
referents
associated with the given point, even if only a subset of the referents were
initially selected
by the user to be graphically represented in the storyline representation 310.
For example,
even though indicium 312 indicates that the King Claudius referent is not
associated with the
corresponding point in the story, a user may select indicium 312 to view
information
regarding other referents that are associated with the corresponding point in
the story.
[0031] FIGURE 4 is an illustrative user interface 400 generated by the
story
server 120 that displays a graphical representation of a storyline 420 with
indicia
representing the strength of association between points in the storyline and
two referents of
interest, referents 402 and 404. User interface 400 may be presented to a
user, for example,
after the user has selected to add an additional referent to the graphical
representation 310
displayed in user interface 300 of FIGURE 3, such as by selecting the
"Fictional Person"
additional referent option included in options 308 of user interface 300. As
illustrated in user
interface 400, the user has selected a second referent of interest in addition
to the previously
selected King Claudius referent. The second referent of interest,
"Rosencrantz," is also of
the "fictional person" referent type. The user may select an additional
(third) referent of
interest by selecting referent options 406.
[0032] As shown in user interface 400, display spectrum 408,
corresponding to
the King Claudius referent, is the same color as display spectrum 306
discussed above in
reference to FIGURE 3. Accordingly, the display spectrum 408 may be
considered, for
example, to be a spectrum from white to dark blue, such that the spectrum
increases in
intensity of blue from left to right. The display spectrum 410, corresponding
to the
Rosencrantz referent, may be considered, for example, to be a spectrum from
white to dark
red, such that the spectrum increases in intensity of red from left to right.
Overlap
spectrum 412 represents colors or patterns that indicate an association of an
indicium with
both the King Claudius referent 402 and the Rosencrantz referent 404. For
example, the
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overlap spectrum may contain varying intensity of purple (a color combination
of blue,
which corresponds to the King Claudius referent, and red, which corresponds to
the
Roseancrantz referent), such that the overlap spectrum 412 increases in
intensity of purple
from left to right. As will be appreciated, a different color, pattern or
other graphical
indication could alternatively be used instead of display spectrum 408,
display spectrum 410,
and/or overlap spectrum 412.
[0033] Storyline representation 420 includes a number of indicia, some
of which
include the same color or pattern as previously displayed at the corresponding
point in
storyline 310 of FIGURE 3, discussed above. For example, indicium 432 is
represented as a
dark blue color corresponding to the far right of display spectrum 408, which
may indicate
that the corresponding point in the Hamlet story has a relatively strong
association with the
King Claudius referent 402, but is not associated with the Rosencrantz
referent 404 (because
no red is included in indicium 432). Indicium 424, by contrast, is represented
as a dark red
color corresponding to the far right of display spectrum 410, which may
indicate that the
corresponding point in the Hamlet story has a relatively strong association
with the
Rosencrantz referent, but is not associated with the King Claudius referent.
Indicium 422,
which is represented as a color in the middle of the display spectrum 410, may
indicate that
the corresponding point in the Hamlet story has some association with the
Rosencrantz
referent, but no association with the King Claudius referent.
[0034] Indicia in storyline representation 420 that correspond to
points associated
with both the King Claudius referent 402 and the Rosencrantz referent 404
include a color
from overlap spectrum 412 (or some intensity of purple). For example, indicium
426, which
is represented as a color to the left of display spectrum 412 (or a light
purple), may indicate
that the corresponding point in the Hamlet story has some association with
both the King
Claudius referent and the Rosencrantz referent. Indicium 428, which is
represented as a
color to the right of display spectrum 412 (a dark purple), may indicate that
the
corresponding point in the Hamlet story has a strong association with both the
King Claudius
referent and the Rosencrantz referent.
[0035] In some embodiments, rather than an overlap spectrum, such as
overlap
spectrum 412, each indicium corresponding to a point that is associated with
more than one
referent may include a combination of the colors that are associated with each
referent. For
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example, if the story server 120 determines a relatively low score for the
King Claudius
referent 402 at a given point, and a relatively high score for the Rosencrantz
referent 404 at
the same point, the indicium at that point may be represented by a color
combination
consisting of a relatively low intensity of blue (corresponding to the King
Claudius referent)
and a relatively high intensity of red (corresponding to the Rosencrantz
referent). In other
embodiments, the color of an indicium representing a combination of two or
more referents
may be selected from an overlap spectrum, such as overlap spectrum 412, based
on a single
combined score for the two or more referents. In some embodiments, the story
server may
consider proximity criteria when determining a combined score. For example,
the story
server may consider the number of words, pages, lines or other content portion
that separates
the association of the first referent and the association of the second
referent.
[0036] FIGURE 5 is an illustrative user interface 500 generated by the
story
server 120 that displays a graphical story map representation 514 for a set of
stories (or a
"heat map" representation of a set of stories), and that enables a user to
assign relative
weights to different referents of interest for display in the graphical
representation. The
graphical story map representation 514 generally includes indicia that each
represents a story,
where each indicium graphically indicates a strength of association between a
given story
and the referents of interest to the user. The set of stories represented in a
story map, in some
embodiments, may correspond to a catalog of stories for which referent
information is
available in story data store 112. As indicated in version information 502,
the graphical story
map representation 514 includes stories that are available in either a
paperback book version
or an audio book version. The user may select "Add other type" text in version
information 502 in order to select other formats or version types, which may
cause additional
indicia to be displayed in representation 514. As illustrated, the user has
selected two
referents of interest, referents 504 and 506. Referent 504, "Vampires," is of
the subject
referent type. Referent 506, "20th Century," is of the time referent type. The
user may have
selected referents 504 and 506, for example, because the user is interested in
stories that are
associated with both vampires and the twentieth century time period. The user
may select
other referents of interest to be displayed in representation 514 by selecting
additional
referent options 524.
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[0037] The user may optionally select a weight for each referent of
interest. As
indicated by weight 508, the user has entered a relative weight of "10" for
the vampire
referent 504. As indicated by weight 510, the user has entered a relative
weight of "5" for
the 20th Century referent 506. The respective weights may indicate that the
user is more
interested in the vampire referent 504 than the 20th Century referent 506,
because weight 508
("10") is higher than weight 510 ("5"). The story server 120 may consider the
weight
assigned to each referent when calculating scores, as discussed below.
[0038] The user may select a display option from display options 512.
In
illustrative user interface 500, the user has selected the option to display a
separate color per
referent. Accordingly, the vampire referent 504 is represented by a different
color (as
illustrated by display spectrum 516) than the 20th century referent 506
(illustrated by display
spectrum 518). Alternatively, the user may select to display varying
intensities of a single
color based on a combined score for both referents, in which case a single
display spectrum
may be used in the story map representation. As illustrated in user interface
500, the display
spectrums 516, 518 and 520 are represented by similar patterns as display
spectrums 408, 410 and 412 (respectively) in user interface 400 of FIGURE 4,
discussed
above. Accordingly, display spectrum 516 (corresponding to vampire referent
504) may
represent varying intensities of blue, display spectrum 518 (corresponding to
20th Century
referent 506) may represent varying intensities of red, and display spectrum
520
(corresponding to the overlap of combination of both the vampire and 20th
Century
referents) may represent varying intensities of purple. Alternatively, as
discussed above, a
variety of other colors, patterns, and/or other graphical indications may
replace any of the
three display spectrums.
[0039] While the storyline representations discussed above in
reference to
FIGURES 3 and 4 include indicia corresponding to points in a story, the story
map
representation 514 in FIGURE 5 includes indicia corresponding to stories
themselves. Each
indicium displayed in representation 514, such as indicium 530, corresponds to
a story or a
version of a story. The color or pattern of each indicium may be determined
based on the
strength of association between the story represented by the indicium and the
referents of
interest to the user. For example, indicium 530, which is light purple, may
represent a story
that includes one or more associations with the vampire referent 504 and one
or more
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associations with the 20th Century referent 506. In some embodiments, the user
may select
indicium 530, for example, to view more information regarding the story
represented by
indicium 530.
[0040] In some embodiments, when the user selects to display a
separate color
per referent (as shown in illustrative user interface 500), the story server
120 may determine
a first score for each story based on the number of associations between the
story and the first
referent of interest (in this example, the vampire referent 504), then
determine a second score
for each story based on the number of associations between the story and the
second referent
of interest (in this example, the 20th Century referent 506). If a relative
weight is assigned to
any referent of interest, the story server may consider the weight when
determining the score,
such as by multiplying the weight assigned to the referent by the number of
associations that
the referent has with the given story. As discussed above, in some
embodiments, the story
data store 112 may include an indication of the relative strength of an
individual association
between a referent and a story (or a point in the story). The story server may
consider the
relative strength of each association, in addition to the number of
associations, when
determining a score. When the user selects to display a combined score or a
single color for
more than one referent, the story server 120 may determine separate scores for
each referent,
and then combine the scores to determine a combined score. Alternatively, the
story
server 120 may determine a single combined score for each story based on the
total number
of associations between any of the referents of interest and the story, taking
into account the
relative weights assigned to the referents.
[0041] In some embodiments, once the story server 120 has determined a
score
for each story, the story server may sort the stories based on the scores. For
example, as
illustrated in representation 514, the story server 120 has placed the stories
having the highest
combined score (or the greatest strength of association between the story and
the referents of
interest to the user) in the bottom left of representation 514. More
specifically, in the
illustrated representation 514, the stories with the highest combined score
for both the
vampire referent and the 20th Century referent are displayed in the lower left
(in dark
purple). Generally, the further to the left an indicium representing a story
is displayed in
representation 514, the greater the story's score for the 20th Century
referent (and the greater
the intensity of red). Generally, the further down an indicium representing a
story is
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displayed in representation 514, the greater the story's score for the vampire
referent (and the
greater the intensity of blue). As will be appreciated, the story server 120
may sort stories
and corresponding indicia in a variety of ways, including by increasing score,
decreasing
score, version format or type, alphabetical order by story title or author
name, story genre,
etc. Furthermore, while the position in representation 514 of an indicium
representing a story
may be based on a score representing the strength of association between one
or more
referents and the story, the relative intensity of a color may not coincide
directly with an
indicium's position in the representation. For example, the change in color
intensity of
indicia from left to right in a story map representation may not be linear.
[0042] While FIGURE 5 illustrates one example of a graphical story map
representation 514, the story server 120 may generate for display story map
representations
in a variety of forms. For example, the indicia may be arranged in a circle,
such that the
story with the highest combined score is represented by an indicium placed in
the center of
the circle, stories with relatively high scores for a first referent are
represented by indicia
placed in the left portion of the circle, and stories with relatively high
scores for a second
referent are represented by indicia placed in the right portion of the circle.
In other
embodiments, a three-dimensional representation may be presented. For example,
if a user
selects three referents of interest, a relative position of each indicium in
simulated three-
dimensional space may be based on the strength of association between the
story represented
by the indicium and each referent of interest, such that the indicium' s
position relative to the
x-axis is based on the story's score for a first referent of interest, the
indicium's position
relative to the y-axis is based on the story's score for a second referent of
interest, and the
indicium's position relative to the z-axis is based on the story's score for a
third referent of
interest.
[0043] In some embodiments, subsets of the indicia may be clustered or
"bubbled," such that stories with similar scores are grouped together. For
example, clusters
of a certain size may be indicated as "bubbles," where the size of each bubble
is in proportion
to the number of stories in the cluster. Stories that are not members of a
cluster may be
placed in between the bubbles. Alternatively, cluster membership could be
shown by a
relative three-dimensional placement of an indicium, such that indicia
representing stories
that are members of a cluster have the same height or depth in a three
dimensional space. In
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other embodiments, the stories may be sorted and displayed as graphical
representations of
books on shelves in a virtual library, where wings or aisles may graphically
represent clusters
of stories with similar scores.
[0044]
FIGURE 6 is an illustrative user interface 600 generated by the story
server 120 that displays a graphical representation 602 for a set of stories,
where an indicium
for each story graphically indicates the strength of association between the
story and
referents of interest. User interface 600 may be presented to a user, for
example, after the
user selects indicium 530 in user interface 500. As illustrated,
representation 602 provides a
more detailed or "zoomed-in" representation 602 of the portion of
representation 514
surrounding indicium 530. As illustrated in user interface 600, each of
indicia 604, 606, 608
and 610 includes information identifying the story corresponding to the given
indicium. For
example, indicium 610 (which may correspond to the same story as indicium 530
in user
interface 500) corresponds to a story titled "Night School," by author Jane
Jones. In some
embodiments, additional or alternative identifying information or other data
may be
displayed for each story, such as an image of a book cover, a photograph from
a movie, a
relevant excerpt or portion of a version of the story, etc. As illustrated,
each of
indicia 604, 606, 608 and 610 includes a border that is of a color selected
from one of the
color spectrums illustrated in key 630. The color of each indicium may be
determined by the
story server 120 in a similar manner as discussed above in reference to the
indicia illustrated
in FIGURE 5. The user may select scroll options 612 in order to display
additional indicia in
a given direction of representation 602.
[0045] The
user may select zoom out option 622 or zoom in option 620 of user
interface 600 in order to display a story map representation that includes
either more or less
indicia, respectively, than are currently displayed in representation 602.
In some
embodiments, a user may select to zoom in to a level at which the story server
120 may
present for display a story map representation that includes indicia
corresponding to
individual points in one or more stories, similar to the storyline
representations discussed
above in reference to FIGURES 3 and 4.
[0046]
FIGURE 7 is an illustrative user interface 700 generated by the story
server 120 that enables a user to create a custom signature by selecting
stories of interest to
the user, where the custom signature may be used by the story server 120 to
generate a
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graphical representation of one or more stories. For example, a custom
signature may be a
convenient mechanism by which a user may select a large number of referents of
interest to
the user, with optional weights associated with each referent. Alternatively,
a custom
signature for a user may be determined by the story server 120 without the
user explicitly
selecting each referent of interest to the user. As indicated by text 702,
user interface 700 is
presented for a user, "Joe Roberts," to create a personalized or custom
signature. The custom
signature includes books from the user's wish list, which may be a list of one
or more book
versions of stories that the user has indicated an interest in purchasing. The
user has selected
a relative list weight of "5", indicated by weight 704, for the stories
included in the wish list.
The user may select option 706 in order to change the stories on the wish
list, and/or any
individual weights associated with each story on the list. The custom
signature also includes
books that the user has purchased, which may be a list of one or more book
versions of
stories that the story server 120 has determined that the user has purchased.
The purchase
history list may be determined based on, for example, purchase history
information
associated with the user and stored in one or more data stores. The user has
selected a
relative list weight of "10", indicated by weight 708, for the stories
included in the purchase
history list. The user may select option 710 in order to change the stories on
the purchase
history list for purposes of the user's custom signature, and/or to change any
individual
weights associated with each story on the list.
[0047] As illustrated in user interface 700, the custom signature also
includes two
individually added books, "Moby Dick" and "Romeo and Juliet," which the user
may have
selected specifically for the purpose of including those books in the user's
custom signature.
The user has selected a relative weight of "20," indicated by weight 712, for
the list of
individually added books. The user may select option 716 in order to select
portions or
specific referents of interest from within the individually added books, as
discussed below in
reference to FIGURE 8.
[0048] The user may select story map generation option 718 in order to
request
that the story server 120 generate a story map representation based on the
user's custom
signature. The user may optionally filter the stories or versions of stories
represented in the
generated story map representation by selecting filter options 720. The story
map
representation may be generated in a similar manner as previously discussed
above (such as
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in reference to FIGURES 5 and 6), but the referents of interest for purposes
of determining
scores and selecting indicia may be determined by the story server 120 based
on the stories
included in the user's custom signature. For example, the story server 120 may
determine a
set of referents with a relatively high number of associations in the stories
of interest to the
user, taking into consideration the relative weights assigned to each story or
list of stories.
The story server may then determine scores and indicia for a story map
representation of a
catalog of stories based on the determined set of referents. For example, if a
user's custom
signature includes a number of stories that are strongly associated with the
"Vampires"
subject referent, the story server may determine that the vampires referent is
a referent of
interest to the user without the user explicitly selecting the vampires
referent.
[0049] FIGURE 8 is an illustrative user interface 800 generated by the
story
server 120 that enables a user to create a custom signature by selecting
referents of interest to
the user, and/or by selecting portions of a story of interest to the user.
User interface 800
may be presented to a user, for example, as a result of the user selecting
option 716 of user
interface 700, illustrated in FIGURE 7. The user may have selected option 716
in order to
select portions or specific referents of interest from within the individually
added book
"Romeo and Juliet." Referent list 802 illustrated in user interface 800 is a
list of referents
associated with the "Romeo and Juliet" story. The user may select the
referents of interest to
the user, and may assign a weight to each referent. For example, the "16th
Century" time
period referent has a selection 804 indicating that it will be considered by
the story
server 120 as a referent of interest for purposes of the user's custom
signature. The 16th
Century referent is assigned a weight of "5," as indicated by weight 806. In
some
embodiments, the story server 120 may default to weighting all referents in a
story of interest
equally for purposes of the user's custom signature, unless or until the user
indicates that a
given referent is not of interest, or the user changes the weight assigned to
a referent.
[0050] Illustrative user interface 800 also includes selectable text
portion 808,
which includes content from a version of the "Romeo and Juliet" story, such as
an electronic
book version. The user may scroll through the text by selecting scroll options
810. The user
may select or highlight a portion of the content displayed in text portion 808
in order to
indicate that the user is interested in or likes the given portion of the
story. In some
embodiments, the story server 120 may then determine one or more referents
associated with
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the selected portion based on referent association data stored in story data
store 112. The
story server may then consider the determined referents as referents of
interest to the user for
purposes of the user's custom signature. Once the user selects a portion, the
user may be
prompted to optionally assign a weight to the selected portion (not
illustrated). In other
embodiments, the user may be able to select portions of a story in ways other
than via display
of story content. For example, the user may select a chapter, scene, or other
predefined
portion of content as a portion of interest to the user.
[0051] As discussed throughout the present disclosure, the above
methods may
enable users to explore stories based on referents of interest to the user. In
some
embodiments, for example, a user may read a book that the user enjoyed because
of a certain
character, a certain time period, and/or some other referent discussed in the
narrative of the
story. Aspects of the present disclosure may then enable the user to view a
graphical
representation of a set of stories, where the graphical representation enables
the user to
explore other stories associated with referents of interest to the user.
[0052] It is to be understood that not necessarily all objects or
advantages may be
achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment described herein. Thus,
for
example, those skilled in the art will recognize that certain embodiments may
be configured
to operate in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of
advantages as
taught herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages as may
be taught or
suggested herein.
[0053] All of the processes described herein may be embodied in, and
fully
automated via, software code modules executed by one or more general purpose
computers
or processors. The code modules may be stored in any type of computer-readable
medium or
other computer storage device. Some or all the methods may alternatively be
embodied in
specialized computer hardware. In addition, the components referred to herein
may be
implemented in hardware, software, firmware or a combination thereof.
[0054] Conditional language such as, among others, can, "could,"
"might" or
may, unless specifically stated otherwise, are otherwise understood within the
context as
used in general to convey that certain embodiments include, while other
embodiments do not
include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional
language is not
generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any
way required for
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one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include
logic for
deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features,
elements and/or
steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
[0055] Any process descriptions, elements or blocks in the flow
diagrams
described herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should be understood
as potentially
representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more
executable
instructions for implementing specific logical functions or elements in the
process. Alternate
implementations are included within the scope of the embodiments described
herein in which
elements or functions may be deleted, executed out of order from that shown,
or discussed,
including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the
functionality
involved as would be understood by those skilled in the art.
[0056] It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications
may be
made to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to be
understood as
being among other acceptable examples. All such modifications and variations
are intended
to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and include, but are
not limited to,
the following clauses.
1. A system for graphically representing one or more referents associated with
a
plurality of stories, the system comprising:
a data store that stores data associated with a plurality of stories, wherein
the
data associated with each story comprises referent data identifying one or
more
referents associated with the story; and
a computing device in communication with the data store and that executes:
a first processing component operative to:
receive a user selection of a first referent of interest to the user
and a second referent of interest to the user, wherein the first referent and
second referent each comprise at least one of an event, a character, an
object,
a subject, a time, a place and a person;
determine, for each of the plurality of stories, a first score for
the story, wherein the first score is determined based at least in part on a
number of associations between the story and the first referent of interest to
the user; and
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determine, for each of the plurality of stories, a second score
for the story, wherein the second score is determined based at least in part
on a
number of associations between the story and the second referent of interest
to
the user;
wherein the first score and the second score for each of the
plurality of stories are determined based at least in part on referent data
stored
in the data store; and
a second processing component operative to generate for display a
graphical representation of a subset of the plurality of stories, the
graphical
representation comprising:
a plurality of indicia, wherein each story of the subset of the
plurality of stories is represented by one indicium of the plurality of
indicia,
wherein the indicium associated with each story graphically indicates a
strength of association between the story and both the first referent of
interest
to the user and the second referent of interest to the user, wherein the
strength
of association is determined based at least in part on the first score and the
second score.
2. The system of Clause 1, wherein a first color represents the first referent
of
interest to the user and a second color represents the second referent of
interest to the user,
and wherein, for each of the plurality of indicia, the strength of association
between the story
and the first and second referents of interest is graphically indicated by a
combination of the
first color and the second color.
3. The system of Clause 2, wherein a relative intensity of the first color in
the
combination corresponds to the first score, wherein a relative intensity of
the second color in
the combination corresponds to the second score.
4. A system for graphically representing one or more referents associated with
a
plurality of stories, the system comprising:
a data store that stores data associated with a plurality of stories, wherein
the
data associated with each story comprises referent data identifying one or
more
referents associated with the story; and
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a computing device in communication with the data store, the computing
device operative to:
determine, for each of the plurality of stories, a score for the story
based at least in part on a number of associations between the story and one
or
more referents of interest, wherein the number of associations between the
story and the one or more referents of interest is derived from the referent
data
stored in the data store; and
generate for display a graphical representation of a subset of the
plurality of stories, the graphical representation comprising a plurality of
indicia, wherein each indicium of the plurality of indicia graphically
indicates
a strength of association between a story of the subset and the one or more
referents of interest, and wherein the strength of association is determined
based at least in part on the score for the story.
5. The system of Clause 4, wherein each indicium comprises a color.
6. The system of Clause 5, wherein the strength of association between the
story and
the one or more referents of interest is indicated by a relative intensity of
the color.
7. The system of Clause 4, wherein the strength of association between the
story and
the one or more referents of interest is indicated by a combination of colors,
wherein the
combination of colors comprises a color associated with each referent of
interest that is
associated with the story.
8. The system of Clause 4, wherein the one or more referents of interest are
selected
by a user.
9. The system of Clause 4, wherein the one or more referents of interest are
determined based at least in part on one or more stories selected by a user.
10. The system of Clause 4, wherein the one or more referents of interest are
determined based at least in part on a portion of content selected by a user.
11. The system of Clause 4, wherein the score for each of the plurality of
stories is
determined based at least in part on a weight associated with at least one of
the one or more
referents of interest.
12. The system of Clause 4, wherein each referent of interest comprises at
least one of
an event, a character, an object, a subject, a time, a place and a person.
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13. The system of Clause 4, wherein two or more indicia of the plurality of
indicia are
represented as clusters in the graphical representation, wherein the two or
more indicia are
represented as clusters based at least in part on a comparison of the score
for the story
corresponding to each of the two or more indicia.
14. A computer-implemented method for graphically representing one or more
referents associated with a plurality of stories, the computer-implemented
method
comprising:
as implemented by one or more computing devices configured with specific
executable instructions,
determining, for each of the plurality of stories, a score for the story
based at least in part on one or more associations between the story and one
or
more referents of interest; and
generating for display a graphical representation of a subset of the
plurality of stories, the graphical representation comprising a plurality of
indicia, wherein each indicium of the plurality of indicia graphically
indicates
a strength of association between a story of the subset and the one or more
referents of interest, and wherein the strength of association is determined
based at least in part on the score for the story.
15. The computer-implemented method of Clause 14, wherein the score for each
of
the plurality of stories is determined based at least in part on the number of
associations
between the story and the one or more referents of interest.
16. The computer-implemented method of Clause 14, wherein each indicium
comprises a color.
17. The computer-implemented method of Clause 16, wherein the strength of
association between the story and the one or more referents of interest is
indicated by a
relative intensity of the color
18. The computer-implemented method of Clause 14, wherein the strength of
association between the story and the one or more referents of interest is
indicated by a
combination of colors, wherein the combination of colors comprises a color
associated with
each referent of interest that is associated with the story.
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19. The computer-implemented method of Clause 14, wherein each referent of
interest comprises at least one of an event, a character, an object, a
subject, a time, a place
and a person.
20. The computer-implemented method of Clause 14, wherein the score for each
of
the plurality of stories is determined based at least in part on a weight
associated with at least
one of the one or more referents of interest.
21. The computer-implemented method of Clause 14, wherein the subset of the
plurality of stories in the graphical representation is determined based at
least in part on a
zoom level selected by a user.
22. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having a computer-executable
component, the computer-executable component comprising:
a user interface component which causes display of a graphical representation
of associations between referents of interest and a plurality of stories, the
graphical
representation comprising a plurality of indicia, wherein each indicium of the
plurality of indicia graphically indicates a strength of association between a
story of
the plurality of stories and one or more referents of interest, wherein the
strength of
association is determined based at least in part on a number of associations
between
the story and the one or more referents of interest.
23. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 22, wherein a
position
of each indicium within the graphical representation is determined based at
least in part on
the strength of association between the story and the one or more referents of
interest.
24. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 22, wherein the
strength
of association is graphically indicated by a relative intensity of color.
25. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 22, wherein the
strength
of association is determined based at least in part on a weight associated
with each referent of
interest.
26. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 22, wherein the
strength
of association between the story and the one or more referents of interest is
indicated by a
combination of colors, wherein the combination of colors comprises a color
associated with
each referent of interest that is associated with the story.
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27. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 22, wherein the one
or
more referents of interest are selected by a user.
28. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 22, wherein the
graphical representation comprises three dimensions.
29. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 28, wherein a
position
of an indicium in each of the three dimensions corresponds to the strength of
association
between the story and one of the one or more referents of interest.
30. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 22, wherein the one
or
more referents of interest are determined based at least in part on one or
more stories selected
by a user.
31. A system for graphically representing one or more referents associated
with a
story, the system comprising:
a data store that stores data associated with one or more stories, wherein the
data associated with each story comprises referent data identifying one or
more
referents associated with the story; and
a computing device in communication with the data store and that executes:
a first processing component operative to:
receive a user selection of a first referent of interest to the user
and a second referent of interest to the user, wherein the first referent and
second referent each comprise at least one of an event, a character, an
object,
a subject, a time, a place and a person;
determine, for each of a plurality of points in a story, a first
score for the point in the story, wherein the first score is determined based
at
least in part on a number of associations between the point in the story and
the
first referent of interest to the user; and
determine, for each of the plurality of points in the story, a
second score for the point in the story, wherein the second score is
determined
based at least in part on a number of associations between the point in the
story and the second referent of interest to the user;
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wherein the first score and the second score for each of the
plurality of points in the story are determined based at least in part on
referent
data stored in the data store; and
a second processing component operative to generate for display a
graphical representation of the story, the graphical representation
comprising:
a plurality of indicia, wherein each of the plurality of points in
the story is represented by one indicium of the plurality of indicia, wherein
the
indicium associated with each point in the story graphically indicates a
strength of association between the point in the story and both the first
referent of interest to the user and the second referent of interest to the
user,
wherein the strength of association is determined based at least in part on
the
first score and the second score.
32. The system of Clause 31, wherein a first color represents the first
referent of
interest to the user and a second color represents the second referent of
interest to the user,
and wherein, for each of the plurality of indicia, the strength of association
between the point
in the story and the first and second referents of interest is graphically
indicated by a
combination of the first color and the second color.
33. The system of Clause 32, wherein a relative intensity of the first color
in the
combination corresponds to the first score, wherein a relative intensity of
the second color in
the combination corresponds to the second score.
34. A system for graphically representing one or more referents associated
with a
story, the system comprising:
a data store that stores data associated with one or more stories, wherein the
data associated with each story comprises referent data identifying one or
more
referents associated with the story; and
a computing device in communication with the data store, the computing
device operative to:
determine, for each of a plurality of points in a story, a score for the
point in the story based at least in part on a number of associations between
the point in the story and one or more referents of interest, wherein the
number of associations between the point in the story and the one or more
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referents of interest is derived from the referent data stored in the data
store;
and
generate for display a graphical representation of the story, the
graphical representation comprising a plurality of indicia, wherein each
indicium of the plurality of indicia graphically indicates a strength of
association between a point in the story and the one or more referents of
interest, and wherein the strength of association is determined based at least
in
part on the score for the point in the story.
35. The system of Clause 34, wherein each indicium comprises a color.
36. The system of Clause 35, wherein the strength of association between the
point in
the story and the one or more referents of interest is indicated by a relative
intensity of the
color.
37. The system of Clause 34, wherein the strength of association between the
point in
the story and the one or more referents of interest is indicated by a
combination of colors,
wherein the combination of colors comprises a color associated with each
referent of interest
that is associated with the point in the story.
38. The system of Clause 34, wherein an association between the point in the
story
and a referent of interest comprises the referent of interest being referenced
in content of the
story at the point in the story.
39. The system of Clause 38, wherein the content of the story comprises at
least one
of text data, audio data, image data and video data.
40. The system of Clause 34, wherein the story is associated with one or more
story
versions.
41. The system of Clause 40, wherein each story version comprises one of a
book, an
audio book, an electronic book, and a movie.
42. The system of Clause 34, wherein the one or more referents of interest are
selected by a user.
43. The system of Clause 34, wherein the score for each of the plurality of
points in
the story is determined based at least in part on a weight associated with at
least one of the
one or more referents of interest.
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44. The system of Clause 34, wherein each referent of interest comprises at
least one
of an event, a character, an object, a subject, a time, a place and a person.
45. A computer-implemented method for graphically representing one or more
referents associated with a story, the computer-implemented method comprising:
as implemented by one or more computing devices configured with specific
executable instructions,
determining, for each of a plurality of points in the story, a score for
the point in the story based at least in part on one or more associations
between the point in the story and one or more referents of interest; and
generating for display a graphical representation of the story, the
graphical representation comprising a plurality of indicia, wherein each
indicium of the plurality of indicia graphically indicates a strength of
association between a point in the story and the one or more referents of
interest, and wherein the strength of association is determined based at least
in
part on the score for the point in the story.
46. The computer-implemented method of Clause 45, wherein the score for each
point in the story is determined based at least in part on the number of
associations between
the point in the story and the one or more referents of interest.
47. The computer-implemented method of Clause 45, wherein each indicium
comprises a color.
48. The computer-implemented method of Clause 47, wherein the strength of
association between the point in the story and the one or more referents of
interest is
indicated by a relative intensity of the color
49. The computer-implemented method of Clause 45, wherein the strength of
association between the point in the story and the one or more referents of
interest is
indicated by a combination of colors, wherein the combination of colors
comprises a color
associated with each referent of interest that is associated with the point in
the story.
50. The computer-implemented method of Clause 45, further comprising, in
response
to a user selection of the indicium, causing display of a portion of content
of the story
corresponding to the point in the story.
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51. The computer-implemented method of Clause 50, wherein the content
comprises
at least one of text data, audio data, image data and video data.
52. The computer-implemented method of Clause 51, wherein the displayed
portion
of content of the story references at least one referent of the one or more
referents of interest.
53. The computer-implemented method of Clause 45, wherein each referent of
interest comprises at least one of an event, a character, an object, a
subject, a time, a place
and a person.
54. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having a computer-executable
component, the computer-executable component comprising:
a user interface component which causes display of a graphical representation
of associations between one or more referents of interest and a plurality of
points in a
story, the graphical representation comprising a plurality of indicia, wherein
each
indicium of the plurality of indicia graphically indicates a strength of
association
between a point in the story and the one or more referents of interest,
wherein the
strength of association is determined based at least in part on a number of
associations
between the point in the story and the one or more referents of interest.
55. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 54, wherein the
computer-executable component is further for, in response to a user selection
of the indicium,
causing display of a portion of content of the story corresponding to the
point in the story.
56. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 55, wherein the
content
comprises at least one of text data, audio data, image data and video data.
57. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 54, wherein the
strength
of association is graphically indicated by a relative intensity of color.
58. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 54, wherein the
strength
of association is determined based at least in part on a weight associated
with each referent of
interest.
59. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 54, wherein the
strength
of association between the point in the story and the one or more referents of
interest is
indicated by a combination of colors, wherein the combination of colors
comprises a color
associated with each referent of interest that is associated with the point in
the story.
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60. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of Clause 54, wherein the one
or
more referents of interest are selected by a user.
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