Systems and methods for narrating electronic books

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9449523-B2
Application number	US-201213535272-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 27, 2012
Priority date	Jun 27, 2012
Publication date	Sep 20, 2016
Grant date	Sep 20, 2016

Abstract

A narration session between a plurality of participants can be set up to allow participants to collaboratively narrate an electronic book. Information can be transmitted to each participant so that the views of the participants remain in sync. Visual cues can also be transmitted to notify a participant of text that is to read aloud and audio snippets of read text are collected to form a narration file. Participants without access rights to the electronic book can be granted temporary rights.

First claim

We claim:

1. A computer implemented method comprising:
receiving a request to initiate a live narration session between a plurality of participants to collaboratively narrate an electronic book;
initiating the live narration session between the plurality of participants via an electronic book server;
associating a first narration role in the electronic book with a first participant from the plurality of participants, and a second narration role in the electronic book with a second participant from the plurality of participants, wherein the first participant has ownership access rights to the electronic book and the second participant has temporary access rights to the electronic book;
transmitting a request to the first participant to read aloud a portion of text in the electronic book that is associated with the first narration role;
receiving an audio snippet from the first participant, the audio snippet being associated with the portion of text; and
transmitting the audio snippet to the plurality of participants other than the first participant during the live narration session.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising granting one or more of the plurality of participants temporary access rights to the electronic book when the one or more of the plurality of participants does not own the electronic book.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the temporary access rights expire at the end of the narration session.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising verifying the audio snippet for accuracy using speech recognition technology.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4 , wherein instructions to apply a first visual cue to the portion of text is transmitted to the first participant when the audio snippet is received and instructions to apply a second visual cue to the portion of text is transmitted to the first participant when the audio snippet is verified.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
analyzing the audio snippet for one or more speech characteristics;
adding the one or more speech characteristics to a speech characteristic set associated with the first participant; and
automatically generating another audio snippet for another portion of text in the electronic book that is associated with the narration role in accordance to the speech characteristic set when the speech characteristic set has reached a predetermined level of coverage.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from the first participant, another audio snippet associated with an image in the electronic book;
storing the another audio snippet in the narration file; and
transmitting the another audio snippet to the plurality of participants other than the first participant, wherein the image is presented to the plurality of participants with a visual cue to signify that the image has an associated audio snippet.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
retrieving default audio snippets for un-narrated portions of the electronic book; and
storing the default audio snippets in the narration file.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the default audio snippets are generated by an online store.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the default audio snippets are retrieved from the electronic book.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two participants view the electronic book through a screen sharing session, the screen sharing session allowing contents of the electronic book presented to the first participant with access rights to the electronic book to also be presented to the second participant without access rights to the electronic book.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a video feed from the first participant, and
transmitting the video feed to the plurality of participants other than the first participant.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the live narration session is performed sequentially from the beginning of the electronic book to the end of the electronic book.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program code causing a device to:
receive a request to initiate a live narration session between a plurality of participants to collaboratively narrate an electronic book;
initiate the live narration session between the plurality of participants via an electronic book server;
associate first narration role in the electronic book with a first participant from the plurality of participants, and a second narration role in the electronic book with a second participant from the plurality of participants, wherein the first participant has ownership access rights to the electronic book and the second participant has temporary access rights to the electronic book;
transmit a request to the first participant to read aloud a portion of text in the electronic book that is associated with the first narration role;
receive an audio snippet from the first participant, the audio snippet being associated with the portion of text;
store the audio snippet in a narration file; and
transmit the audio snippet to the plurality of participants other than the first participant during the live narration session.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , further comprising computer program code causing the device to grant one or more of the plurality of participants temporary access rights to the electronic book when the one or more of the plurality of participants does not own the electronic book.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the temporary access rights expire at the end of the narration session.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein instructions to apply a first visual cue to the portion of text is transmitted to the first participant when the audio snippet is received and instructions to apply a second visual cue to the portion of text is transmitted to the first participant when the audio snippet is verified.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , further comprising computer program code causing the device to:
analyze the audio snippet for one or more speech characteristics;
add the one or more speech characteristics to a speech characteristic set associated with the first participant; and
automatically generate another audio snippet for another portion of text in the electronic book that is associated with the narration role in accordance to the speech characteristic set when the speech characteristic set has reached a predetermined level of coverage.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the at least two participants view the electronic book through a screen sharing session, the screen sharing session allowing contents of the electronic book presented to the first participant with access rights to the electronic book to also be presented to the second participant without access rights to the electronic book.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , further comprising computer program code causing the device to verify the audio snippet for accuracy using speech recognition technology.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , further comprising computer program code causing the device to:
receive, from the first pa

Assignees

• Dougherty Casey Maureen
• Robbin Gregory
• Hajj Melissa Breglio
• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Dougherty Casey Maureen
• Robbin Gregory
• Hajj Melissa Breglio

Classifications

• G09B5/062 Primary

  Combinations of audio and printed presentations, e.g. magnetically striped cards, talking books, magnetic tapes with printed texts thereon · CPC title