WO2013110943A1

WO2013110943A1 - Content aggregation and presentation

Info

Publication number: WO2013110943A1
Application number: PCT/GB2013/050159
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alexandros MARINOS; Tosh FIELDSEND
Original assignee: Renew Pod Limited
Priority date: 2012-01-25
Filing date: 2013-01-25
Publication date: 2013-08-01
Also published as: GB201201244D0

Abstract

A content aggregation and presentation system comprises: a content production subsystem, a scheduler, and a playback module. The content production subsystem is configured to provide plural slide templates to each of plural content providers, and to receive completed content slides from each of the plural content providers, each completed content slide including plural content fields including at least one text field and each completed content slide having metadata associated therewith. The scheduler is configured to create a schedule relating to the presentation of content slides based on metadata associated with the slides and based on information included within a scheduling database. The playback module is configured to cause playback of the content slides according to the schedule at each of plural display locations.

Description

Content Aggregation and Presentation

Description

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to content aggregation and presentation.

Background to the Invention

The media displays that are being placed in outdoor public spaces are becoming more sophisticated. Increasingly they can be provided with content remotely from a central location, avoiding the need for manual updating of posters, billboards etc. at each media display location.

Media Metrica Limited has proposed to provide Renew™ Pods on

pavements/sidewalks in central business districts of key cities around the world. As well as including bomb-resistant waste receptacles, these Renew Pods are equipped with display panels. This provides new opportunities for providing content, including public information material, health and safety warnings, news, share prices and advertising, to pedestrians and vehicle occupants in real time or near real time.

However, existing media aggregation and presentation systems do not allow for rapid communication to the public of content from multiple sources.

Summary Of The Invention

A first aspect of the invention provides a content aggregation and presentation system comprising:

a content production subsystem,

a scheduler, and

a playback module,

wherein the content production subsystem is configured to provide plural slide templates to each of plural content providers, and to receive completed content slides from each of the plural content providers, each completed content slide including plural content fields including at least one text field and each completed content slide having metadata associated therewith,

wherein the scheduler is configured to create a schedule relating to the presentation of content slides based on metadata associated with the slides and based on information included within a scheduling database, and wherein the playback module is configured to cause playback of the content slides according to the schedule at each of plural display locations.

The metadata may include data indicating a priority of the corresponding content slide and the scheduler may be configured to create the schedule based on the priority information and based on the information included within the scheduling database.

The content production subsystem maybe configured to provide plural slide templates to each of plural content providers, and to receive completed content slides from each of the plural content providers, through a web interface.

The content production subsystem maybe configured to provide plural slide templates to a content provider on one or more web pages and, when a template has been selected, to provide a webpage comprising controls for allowing adaptation of content for inclusion in each of plural fields of the template along with a preview of a content slide completed with content that has been entered or selected for inclusion in the content slide.

The scheduler maybe configured to provide completed content slides received from content providers for approval by an administrator and to include a completed content slide in the schedule only after the completed content slide has been approved by an administrator.

At least some of the completed content slides maybe absent of dynamic content.

At least some of the completed content slides may include video or animation content.

The scheduler may be configured to schedule plural content slides in a sequence, with each content slide having a playback duration of between 5 seconds and 30 seconds.

The content production subsystem maybe configured to provide one or more slide templates to an emergency services entity, and to receive one or more completed emergency service content slides from the emergency services entity, and

the playback module may be configured to cause playback of the emergency service content slides substantially immediately. The playback module may be configured to cause playback of the content slides according to the same schedule at each of plural display locations.

A second aspect of the invention provides a method of aggregating and presenting content, the method comprising:

a content production subsystem providing plural slide templates to each of plural content providers;

the content production subsystem receiving completed content slides from each of the plural content providers, each completed content slide including plural content fields including at least one text field and each completed content slide having metadata associated therewith;

a scheduler creating a schedule relating to the presentation of content slides based on metadata associated with the slides and based on information included within a scheduling database; and

a playback module causing playback of the content slides according to the schedule at each of plural display locations.

The metadata may include data indicating a priority of the corresponding content slide, and the method may comprise the scheduler creating the schedule based on the priority information and based on the information included within the scheduling database.

The method may comprise the content production subsystem providing plural slide templates to each of plural content providers, and receiving completed content slides from each of the plural content providers, through a web interface.

The method may comprise the content production subsystem providing plural slide templates to a content provider on one or more web pages and, when a template has been selected, providing a webpage comprising controls for allowing adaptation of content for inclusion in each of plural fields of the template along with a preview of a content slide completed with content that has been entered or selected for inclusion in the content slide.

The method may comprise the scheduler providing completed content slides received from content providers for approval by an administrator and including a completed content slide in the schedule only after the completed content slide has been approved by an administrator. At least some of the completed content slides may be absent of dynamic content.

The method may comprise:

the content production subsystem providing one or more slide templates to an emergency services entity, and receiving one or more completed emergency service content slides from the emergency services entity, and

the playback module causing playback of the emergency service content slides substantially immediately.

The method may comprise the playback module causing playback of the content slides according to the same schedule at each of plural display locations.

A third aspect of the invention provides a computer program comprising machine readable instructions that when executed by computing apparatus control it to perform the method above.

A fourth aspect of the invention provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable code, which, when executed by computing apparatus, causes the computing apparatus to perform a method comprising:

a scheduler creating a schedule relating to the presentation of content slides based on metadata associated with the slides and based on information included within a scheduling database; and a playback module causing playback of the content slides according to the schedule at each of plural display locations.

A fifth aspect of the invention provides apparatus, the apparatus having at least one processor and at least one memory having computer-readable code stored thereon which when executed controls the at least one processor:

to cause a content production subsystem to provide plural slide templates to each of plural content providers;

to cause the content production subsystem to receive completed content slides from each of the plural content providers, each completed content slide including plural content fields including at least one text field and each completed content slide having metadata associated therewith;

to cause a scheduler to create a schedule relating to the presentation of content slides based on metadata associated with the slides and based on information included within a scheduling database; and

to cause a playback module to cause playback of the content slides according to the schedule at each of plural display locations.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a schematic drawing illustrating a system in which aspects of the invention are embodied;

Figure 2 is a schematic drawing illustrating internal components of a pod forming part of the Figure l system;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the pods of the system of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating the experience of a user of a content provider of the system of Figure 1 in generating content for display by the system;

Figures 5a and 5b are screen shots provided by the system of Figure 1 at different stages of generation of content by a user;

Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a content production system forming part of the system of Figure 1 in allowing a user to generate content; and

Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a scheduler forming part of the system of Figure 1. Detailed Description of the Embodiments

Referring firstly to Figure l, a system 100 is illustrated schematically. The system 100 includes a private system no that is connected externally to a number of other components. The external components include first, second and nth content providers 120, 121 and 122. The external components also include first and second third party information sources 140, 141, which are connected to the private system 110 via a network 142. Lastly, an emergency services entity 130 is connected to the private system 110. Other content providers between the second and nth content providers 121, 122 are omitted from the figure for the sake of clarity.

A number of components are connected within the private system 110. These include a content production system (CPS) 150. It is the CPS 150 that is connected to the emergency services entity 130, the network 142 and the content providers 120, 121, 122. The private system 110 also includes a content management system (CMS) 160. A scheduler 161 is connected between the CMS 160 and the CPS 150. A scheduler database 166 is coupled to the scheduler 161.

An output of the CMS 160 is connected to a playback module 170. An output of the playback module 170 is connected to a content monitor/ recording module 180.

A journalist entity 151 is bidirectionally coupled to the CPS 150.

An editor entity 162 is coupled bidirectionally to the CMS 160 and to the scheduler 161.

The playback module 170 is coupled to inputs of first, second and nth pods 190, 191, 192, an example of which is illustrated in Figure 2. Other pods between the second and nth pods 191, 192 are omitted from the figures for the sake of clarity. Various ones of the components of the system 100 are computing systems, each of which has one or more processors, one or more volatile memories and one or more non-volatile memories. In each case, software is stored in one or more non-volatile memories. The software is executed by the processor using the volatile memory. Each of the processors, the volatile memories and the non-volatile memories are connected together by a bus, or by multiple buses. An operating system may be stored in the one or more non-volatile memories. If an operating system is present, software is executed by the one or more processors under control of the operating system.

In Figure 1, one or more processors are indicated by the suffix P with respect to a reference numeral for the corresponding computer system. For instance, the processor for the emergency services entity 130 is given by reference numeral 130P. The corresponding one or more processors in the journalist entity 151 is denoted by the reference numeral 151P. Similarly, the bus(es) is/are represented by the suffix B, volatile memory is indicated by the suffix RAM, and the non-volatile memories are indicated by the suffix ROM. Within the non-volatile memory, an operating system is indicated by the suffix OS and software is indicated by the suffix SW. This notation is followed for each of the emergency services entity 130, the journalist entity 151, the editor entity 162, the scheduler 161, , the CMS 160 and the first content provider 120. The second and nth content providers 121, 122 are in all relevant respects identical to the first content provider 120. All of these entities may be provided as any suitable computing device, for instance a general purpose desktop or laptop computer.

The CPS 150 does not follow this notation. The CPS 150 includes one or more processors 154, a bus 155, one or more volatile memories 153 and one or more non- volatile memories 152. Within the non-volatile memory 152 are stored an operating system 156, a web server application 157 and other software applications 158. The CPS 150 may be a general purpose server or server cluster.

Where in the following a component of the Figure 1 system 100 is said to provide a certain function, it will be appreciated that this is provided by the one or more processors of that component resulting from execution of software stored in nonvolatile memory of that component and using volatile memory of that component in the execution of the software. The private system 110 (except for the pods 190-192) may be located within a single building, or may be distributed over multiple sites.

The pods 190 to 192 will now be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Here, the first pod 190 will be described, although the second and nth pods 191 and 192 are the same in every relevant respect. The pod 190 includes first and second displays 200, 201. The first display 200 is driven by a display driver 202 and the second display 201 is driven by a second display driver 203. Each of the display drivers 202, 203 is connected to a bus 204. Also connected to the bus are one or more processors 205, one or more volatile memories 206 and one or more non-volatile memories 207. Further connected to the bus 204 is a

communications module 208, which is connected to a communications line 209. A power supply 210 is connected to provide power to the relevant components of the pod 190. The one or more non-volatile memories 207 have stored therein an operating system 211 and first and second software applications 212, 213.

The pod 190 is operable to receive control messages and files over the communications line 209 by the communications module 208 and to store them in the non-volatile memory 207. The messages received at the pod 190 include commands and content. The commands inform the pod 190 what action to take at what times. The content forming part of the received message indicates content that is to be displayed on the first and second displays 200 and 201. Briefly, the processor 205 executes software 212 under control of the operating system 211 using the volatile memory 206 such as to provide certain functionality. This includes displaying content on the displays 200, 201 at predetermined times and in a predetermined manner, as instructed by the playback module 170. Very briefly, high level operation is as follows.

The CMS 160 manages content. The playback module 170 effects display of the content on the pods 190-192. The CMS 160 manages content with the scheduler 161 that forms part thereof. The scheduler 161, in conjunction with the scheduler database 166, decides what content is to be displayed on the pods 190-192, at what times and for what durations. The CMS 160 and the scheduler 161 cause content to be displayed on the pods 190-192 in cycles, such that different content is provided at regular, frequent intervals. The scheduler 161 is configured such that a page of news content is provided for a period of time, for instance 10 seconds, following which a page of weather content is provided. After the page of weather content is provided, another page of content is provided. The third page may for instance be an advertisement or a sponsored page of content. The pages of content are changed relatively frequently. An effect of this is to provide pedestrians and occupants of passing vehicles with multiple pages of content even if they are within sight of the pod 190-192 for a relatively short period of time. The display time for a page of content may be the same for all pages, or it may vary between pages of different types, or between different pages of the same content type. Typically a page of content is displayed for between 5 and 20 seconds before a new page of content is displayed. Such a display period is sufficient to allow pedestrians and other street users to consume the content but is not so long as to cause them to search for another visual stimulus.

There is a very significant difference between the way in which content can be provided for display by the pods 190-192 compared to prior art public display systems.

In particular, content providers 120-122 are able to inject content directly into the private network 110, and the private network 110 is configured so as to display injected content very soon after injection if required. Moreover, this can be achieved with little or no human input on the part of the private system 110.

Additionally, content can be injected into the private network 110 by the emergency services entity 130 for immediate or near immediate display by the pods 190-192.

Briefly, content is injected into the private network 110 by the content providers 120- 122 and the emergency services entity 130 by way of the content production system (CPS) 150.

The injection of content by one of the content providers 120 to 122 into the private system 110 for display on the pods 190 to 192 will now be described particularly with reference to Figures 4, 5a and 5b. Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating the experience of a user of one of the content providers 120-122. Figures 5a and 5b are screen shots that are provided by the content providers 120-122 at different stages in the process of creating content for injection into the private system 110. The flow chart of Figure 4 starts at step Si. At step S2, the user of the content provider 120-122, which will hereafter be referred to as the first content provider 120 for convenience, opens a browser application 120SW that is stored in the non-volatile memory 120ROM. The browser application may take any suitable form, for instance Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome etc. At step S3, the user points the browser to the uniform resource locator (URL) of the content provider that is provided by the private system 110. This can be achieved through the user of the first content provider 120 typing the URL into an address bar 501 provided by the browser (the address bar is shown in Figures 5a and 5b) or selecting a bookmark, for example. Following step S3, the user is required to log in to the content provider private system 110 using a login name and password, although login may be achieved in any other suitable way.

At step S5, the user selects an option to create new content. After step S5, the user is provided with a screen like that shown in Figure 5a. Here, the action associated with the screen, namely creating a new content slide, is shown in a text field at 502. The screen of Figure 5a includes two text entry boxes. The first is a name text entry box 503. The second is a description text entry box 504. These are free text entry boxes, and a user of the first content provider 120 can enter text into these fields using their keyboard or using a copy and paste function of their device.

At the lower part of the screen shown in Figure 5a are provided a number of templates 505-510. These are simply labelled as templates in the screen of Figure 5a, although in actuality they are displayed as small versions of content slides having multiple fields in a predetermined arrangement. Each template 505-510 is different. Each template 505- 510 includes at least two fields, and some include 3, 4 or 5 fields. A template may include one or more of an image field and a logo field.

It will be appreciated that the screen of Figure 5a is provided by the browser application 120SW because of HTML and other data that is provided by the web server application 157 that forms part of the CPS 150. Step S6 of Figure 4 involves the user using the graphical user interface (GUI) to create content, as follows.

The user of the first content provider 120 completes the screen of Figure 5a by entering text into the name field 503 and into the description field 504 and selecting one of the templates 505-510. The web server 157 may require the user to select an "OK" or similar button (not shown) on the screen of Figure 5a, or alternatively selection of one of the templates 505-510 may constitute completion by the user of the screen shown in Figure 5a.

Once the screen of Figure 5a has been completed, the web server 157 of the CPS 150 causes the browser 120SW of the first content provider 120 to provide the screen of Figure 5b. Here, step S6 of Figure 4 involves the user using the graphical user interface (GUI) to continue creating content, as follows.

The name of the page is indicated at 502 as being the text that was entered in the name text entry field 503 of Figure 5a. The screen of Figure 5b includes a number of other fields including a name field and associated text entry box 520, a description text entry box 521, a category text entry box 522 and an attribution text entry box 523. The screen of Figure 5b also provides a preview on the right hand side of the web page. The preview 524 here includes first to third fields that are arranged according to the one of the templates 505-510 that was selected by the user at the screen of Figure 5a. Step S7 involves the user of the first content provider 120 previewing the content slide, and is described in more detail below.

In addition to the text entry boxes 520-523, the screen of Figure 5b also includes a thumbnail image of a logo 525. The web server 157 may initially provide an empty or blank thumbnail 525, or it may include a default logo for the content provider 120. The logo may be changed by a user of the first content provider 120 selecting a button 526. Selection of this button provides a screen (not shown) whereby a user may select an alternative logo. Once an alternative logo is selected, the screen reverts back to the screen of Figure 5b with the selected logo included at the thumbnail location 525.

Similarly, a photograph or other thumbnail image is provided at location 527. A default image may or may not be provided at this location 527. A user may select a browse option 528, following which they are provided with a screen (not shown) through which they can select an alternative photo. Upon selection of a photo or other image, the screen reverts to the screen of Figure 5b, although with the selected photo provided in a thumbnail form at the location 527.

Also provided as part of the screen of Figure 5b is a first drop-down list 529. Upon selecting the drop-down list 529, a user may select a topic with which the content item is to be associated. The topic constitutes metadata, and is not included as part of the content slide.

Similarly, a second drop-down list 530 is provided. This allows a user to select a status for the content slide. Statuses may be draft, final draft, and final, for instance.

A third drop-down list 531 is provided in relation to a priority setting. Through selection of the third drop-down list 531, a user can select a priority for the content item. The default priority might be normal, and other options include high, low and very high. A priority selected by a user constitutes metadata that is associated with the content item.

Step S8 involves the user of the first content provider 120 using the GUI to apply publication priority and preferences. This involves manipulation of the status and priority drop-down lists 530 and 531.

The web server 157 is configured to update dynamically the preview 524 with information that is entered into the screen of Figure 5b. In particular, before all of the content has been entered or selected, the preview 524 is provided with text and images that have been entered into the screen of Figure 5b. For instance, as text is entered into the attribution text field 523, the text that has been entered into the text box is provided within the preview 524. In the case of attribution, the text may be provided at the lowermost part of field 3. For instance, if the attribution is "UK News PLC", the web server 157 may cause the text "Source: UK News PLC" to be displayed at the lowermost part of field 3 of the preview 524. This may occur as the text is typed into the attribution text box 523, or it may occur after the entry of text into the attribution text box 523 has been completed. The completion of entry of text may be detected for instance by detecting a user input at another text box or one of the drop-down lists 529-531 or at one of the browse buttons 526 and 528.

Similarly, once a logo has been selected by the user, the logo may be provided in the preview 524 at the location set by the template. For instance, the logo may be provided at a top right corner of field 2 of the preview 524. Similarly, a photo selected by a user may be provided within the preview 524. For instance, the photo may occupy the whole of field 3 of the preview 524. Any text or other information that is provided as a default on the screen of Figure 5b may be included in the preview 524 at the time when the screen of Figure 5b is first provided, i.e. before any text has been entered or any items have been selected by a user of the first content provider 120.

The dynamic provision of the preview is advantageous since it allows a user of the first content provider 120 to ascertain quickly and easily what form content slides to be displayed on the pods 190-192 will take. This can allow a user of the first content provider 120 to create a content slide that is in a final form suitable for display on one of the pods 190-192 more quickly than might otherwise be the case.

Once a user of the content provider 120 has made all of the selections and entered all of the text that they wish to make, they may choose a "save" option 532 or a "save and continue editing" option 533, which are provided as buttons on the bottom of the screen of Figure 5b.

They may alternatively choose a publish button 534, provided at the bottom of the screen of Figure 5b.

Following step S8, the user selects an option to publish the content slide at step S9. This involves the user selecting the publish button 534 at the bottom of the screen of Figure 5b. At step S10, the user determines whether there is more content to create, in the sense that there are more content slides that they wish to publish. On a positive

determination, they proceed again to step S5, following which they are presented with the screen of Figure 5a. On a negative determination, the operation ends at step S11. The above described operation will now be described from the position of the web server 157 with reference to Figure 6.

Here, the operation starts at Si. At step S2, the web server 157 receives a request from one of the content providers 120-122. The request includes a URL associated with an IP address of the web server 157. At step S3, in response to receiving the request, the web server 157 provides a login page. Following step S3, a login procedure is executed at step S4.

After login has been successfully executed, and a record of the login has been saved, the web server 157 provides a landing page at step S5. Following selection by a user of an option to create a new content slide, the web server 157 provides the screen of Figure 5a at step S6. User inputs are then recorded at step S7. After all of the necessary user inputs have been received, the operation proceeds to step S8, where the screen of Figure 5b is provided.

At step S9, the preview 524 is updated with text inputs and selections provided by the user and received at the web server 157. This is a continuous process. At step S10, it is determined whether the user has selected a save option, for instance by selecting the save button 532 or the save and continue editing button 533. In response to a positive determination, the operation ends by saving at step S11. In response to a negative determination, the web server 157 determines whether the user has selected the publish option 534. In response to a negative determination, the operation proceeds again to step S8, where the screen of Figure 5b is continued to be provided. In response to a positive determination at step S11, the content slide is provided for vetting at step S12. Following step S12, the web server 157 proceeds again to provide the landing page at step S5.

The step of providing the content slide for vetting at step S12 comprises the step of providing a completed but unapproved content slide to the CMS 160. The completed but unapproved slide is then placed in a queue of content slides to be vetted. Vetting is achieved through the editor entity 162. The CPS 150 and the editor entity 162 are configured together to provide completed but unapproved content slides to an administrator, which is a human administrator, for vetting. At this stage, the administrator reviews the completed but unapproved slide for potentially defamatory or offensive material. The administrator has two options, the first being to approve the content slide and the second being not to approve the slide and instead to send a message to the content provider from which the content slide originated. Once the content slide has been approved by the administrator, using the editor entity 162, the scheduler 161 is informed by the editor entity 162 and the content slide is then able to be scheduled for publication by the scheduler 161. - ι₅ -

In some embodiments, the provision of the content slide for vetting at step S12 is omitted. In these embodiments, the editor entity 162 may not be required. Campaign information may identify slides forming part of the campaign and information such as maximum interval between slides, slide presentation periods, slide or campaign presentation duration (in a given period, e.g. a day), etc.

Users may enter campaign information, relating to campaigns that a sponsor wishes to run on the pods 190-192, for instance using the editor entity 162. Campaign information input by the user is incorporated into the scheduler database 166, so that it can be taken into account by the scheduler 161 when generating schedules. In particular, a constraint logic program engine (not shown) of the scheduler uses content type and time period type information included in or derived from the campaign information when deriving the schedule such that the campaign is executed according to the sponsor's requirements whilst meeting other requirements.

Referring now to Figure 7, operation of the scheduler 161 will now be described.

At step Si, the operation starts. At step S2, a schedule is created by the scheduler 161. The creation of the schedule at step S2 involves the scheduler database 166. Step S2 involves using information from the scheduler database 166 and metadata associated with the content slides that have been provided by the CPS 150 (and vetted as appropriate).

The scheduling of content slides for playback on the pods 190-192 is an automated process. The process uses an algorithm to determine an order (sequence) for presentation of content slides. In embodiments in which content slides are presented for different presentation periods, the scheduling also involves the setting of different presentation periods for different content slides. In this example, it is assumed that content slides are presented for a presentation period that is the same for all content slides.

Step S2 involves setting a schedule for a predetermined time period. The time period may be relatively short, for instance of the order of tens of minutes. For instance, the time period maybe for a period between 10 minutes and 60 minutes. The creation of a schedule at step S2 involves identifying from the scheduler database 166 preferences as to topics which are to be covered at the time of the day to which the scheduling interval relates. In this regard, the scheduler database 166 includes data indicating preferences for different types of day. For instance, at lunchtimes, for instance between 12 noon and 2pm, the scheduler database may indicate a preference for 40% of content to relate to food and drink advertising, 20% to relate to general news and 5% to relate to financial news. The preference database 166 may also include data indicating that in the morning rush hour, for instance between 6am and 9am, there is a preference for a 30% proportion of financial news, a 20% proportion of regular news, 5% for weather news and 10% for food and drink advertising. For an evening rush hour period, for instance between 5pm and 7pm, the scheduler database 166 may indicate a preference for 20% for transport news, 15% for financial news, 20% for regular news and 20% for entertainment advertising. It will be appreciated that these are merely examples.

The scheduler database 166 may also include data indicating preferences for sources of information. For instance, the scheduler database 166 may indicate a preference for 10% of content to originate from the first content provider 120 in a first time period, and for a different percentage of content to originate from the first content provider 120 for a different time period. For instance, the data in the scheduler database 166 may indicate that there is a preference for 10% of content to originate from the first content provider 120 on a per day basis and for the proportion to be 15% for the morning and evening rush hour periods. Similarly, the scheduler database 166 may indicate preferences for the second and nth content providers 121, 122.

The scheduler database 166 may also indicate preferences such as preferences for sequences of content slides. For instance, the scheduler database 166 may indicate that a local weather content slide is preferred to be immediately followed by a national or an international weather content slide and that otherwise there should be a minimum of a certain number, for instance 20, of other content slides between successive weather content slides.

Similarly, the preferences database 166 may indicate that there is a preference for UK financial news, European financial news and world financial news content slides to be displayed one after the other, and otherwise for there to be a predetermined minimum separation, for instance 10 content slides, between adjacent financial news content slides.

With regard to advertising content slides, the scheduler database 166 may indicate that there is a general preference to maintain a minimum separation between successive presentations of the same advertising slide. For instance, the minimum separation may be defined in terms of a certain number of intervening content slides, for instance 20 content slides, or in terms of a certain time interval, for instance 2 minutes. The scheduler 161, for instance the constraint logic program engine (not shown) thereof, uses content type information included in or derived from campaign information when deriving the schedule. This involves placing advertising relating to the sponsor of the campaign along with content that is the same as the type of content specified in the campaign information or, if no content of the same type is available, similar to the type of content specified in the campaign information. Additionally, the scheduler 161 uses time period type information included in or derived from campaign information when deriving the schedule. This involves placing advertising relating to the sponsor of the campaign along with content at times consistent with time types specified in the campaign information. Time types might be for instance mealtimes, commuting times, etc. These features assist in ensuring that the campaign is executed according to the sponsor's requirements. Moreover, this is achieved whilst meeting other requirements or preferences included within the scheduler database 166.

The scheduler database 166 may also indicate a preference to maintain a minimum separation between content slides relating to similar content. For instance, the scheduler database 166 may indicate that there is a general preference to maintain a minimum separation, for instance 10 slides, between advertisements for first and second competing businesses. Step S2 involves the scheduler 161 creating a schedule for presentation of content slides that complies exactly or relatively closely with rules and preferences included in the scheduler database 166. The schedule is defined in terms of a sequence of content slides, in the sense that the schedule determines the order of the content slides. If different slides can have different presentation periods, then the schedule also indicates the presentation periods for the different slides. The creation of the schedule by the scheduler 161 takes into account also metadata associated with the content slides. For instance, if the metadata associated with a content slide indicates a high priority, then that content slide may be included closer to the beginning of the schedule, or a greater number of times within the schedule, than would have been the case for the same content slide with a lower priority indicated by its metadata.

Following the creation of the schedule at step S2, a timer is started at step S3. The timer preferably has a value equal to between 50% and 100% of the period for which the schedule was created in step S2.

At step S4, the schedule is stored in the scheduler 161.

At step S5, it is determined whether new vetted content is present. In embodiments in which vetting is required by an administrator, using the editor entity 162, this step S5 requires a content slide to have been approved by the administrator. In embodiments in which the requirement for vetting by an administrator is not present, new content will be determined to be present at step S5 if a new content slide has been received by the CPS 150.

In the event of a positive determination, at step S6 the scheduler 161 reviews the metadata associated with the new content slide or slides. At step S7, the scheduler 161 then determines whether, based on the metadata, an update to the current schedule is required. In the event of a positive determination, the operation proceeds again to step S2, where a new schedule is created using the rules and other data in the scheduler database 166 and the metadata associated with the content slides. A positive determination at step S7 may be provided based on predetermined rules. One such rule may be that a high priority status indication for a content slide is sufficient to trigger an updating of the current schedule, whereas normal or low priorities for content slides is not sufficient to trigger updating of the current schedule.

Following a negative determination from either of steps S5 and S7, it is determined at step S8 whether the timer that was started in step S3 has expired. If it has not expired, the operation proceeds again to step S5. In this way, the operation continually checks for new vetted content at step S5 and for expiry of the timer at step S8 until either the timer expires or it is determined that new content requires an update to the current schedule. Following a positive determination at step S8, when the timer has expired, the timer is reset at step S9 and the operation proceeds again to step S2.

The timer is reset and restarted each time a schedule is created. This ensures that a new schedule is created periodically, except when a new schedule is created early in response to relevant new vetted content.

The playback module 170 is configured to use the schedule created by the scheduler 161 to cause display of the relevant content slides on the pods 190-192. To this end, the playback module 170 is configured to receive content slides from the CMS 160 and the schedule from the scheduler 161 and to create therefrom data files for communication to the pods 190-192. The data files created by the playback module 170 are configured such as to cause the pods 190-192 to display the relevant content slides according to the schedule. In some embodiments, the pods 190-192 display the content slides with the same schedule. In these embodiments, the same content slides are displayed by all of the pods 190-192 at the same time, or substantially the same time.

In other embodiments, the schedule maybe different for different pods 190-192. In these embodiments, the scheduler 161 may generate different schedules for different pods or different groups of pods, and the playback module 170 then distributes the relevant data files, relating to the schedules and the content slides, to the relevant pods 190-192. The content monitor/ recording monitor 180 is connected to an output of the playback module 170. The content monitor/recording module 180 monitors what content slides are caused to be displayed by the pods 190-192. The content monitor/recording module 180 records this information over a number of discrete time periods. The resulting information is provided to the CMS 160. This information is used by the scheduler 161 to create the schedule at step S2 of Figure 7. An effect of this is to allow the content slides that are displayed by the pods 190-192 to comply more closely with the preferences included in the scheduler database 166. In the absence of the content monitor/recording module 180 and the configuration of the scheduler 161 to use information provided by the content monitor/recording module 180, the recalculation of the schedule following a positive determination from step S7 of Figure 7 may otherwise cause the preferences included in the scheduler database 166 to be deviated from by a significant degree.

The content monitor/recording module 180 also provides a record of what content slides were displayed by what pods 190-192 at what times, for the purposes of validating to content providers 120-122 or other parties that any requirements have been complied with.

As described above, content slides can be provided by the first, second and nth content providers 120-122 using the web server 157 of the CPS 150. Additionally, content slides may be provided by the emergency services entity 130. This may be achieved in substantially the same way as that described above with relation to the content providers 120-122. However, with content slides provided by the emergency services entity, vetting of the content slides by an administrator may be omitted. In this way, messages from the emergency services entity 130 may be provided for display on the pods 190-192 even more quickly than otherwise.

The web server 157 maybe configured to provide to the emergency services entity 130 an option with the screen of Figure 5b to publish the content slide immediately. This may cause the content slide to be treated as though it had the highest possible priority, which is higher than a priority available to the content providers 120-122. The emergency services entity 130 is directly coupled to the scheduler 161, allowing the emergency services entity 130 to communicate the priority to the scheduler 161 so that the scheduler can schedule the slide for presentation with minimal delay.

With slides provided by the emergency services entity 130, the scheduler 161 may create a scheduling step S2 of Figure 7 such as to include the content slides at the beginning of the schedule, or at a very early stage in the schedule, following which the playback module 170 causes the content slides to be displayed by the pods 190-192.

Alternatively, for content slides received from the emergency services entity 130, the scheduler 161 may be circumvented altogether. In these embodiments, the playback module 170 is configured to cause display by the pods 190-192 of slides provided by the emergency services entity 130 without the involvement of the scheduler 161, instead giving immediate display on the pods 190-192. The provision of the option for the emergency services entity to provide content slides in this way allows emergency and security services, such as police, fire and medical emergency services, to place messages on the pods 190-192 very quickly. Moreover, this can be achieved without any human input from an operator of the private network 110. As such, the main limiting factor in the speed of the display of messages from the emergency services entity 130 is the creation of the content slides by the emergency services entity.

These features are seen to contribute significantly to the public service aspect of the private system 110.

The private system 110 also includes a journalist entity 151. A user of the journalist entity 151 is able to create content slides for display the pods 190-192 in substantially the same way as that described above in relation to the content providers 120-122. The journalist entity 151 may be able to create content slides by operation of the web server 157 in the same way as described above. However, the login details of the journalist using the journalist entity 151 may be such that certain privileges are extended. With content slides created by a user of the journalist entity 151, vetting by an administrator using the editor entity 162 may not be required. Through the features of the above-described embodiments, content can be displayed on a street relatively quickly after creation of the content and with little or no human input by the operator of the private network 110. This is in contrast to conventional public media displays in which there can be a relatively long delay between content being generated and the content being displayed and/or where significant human

involvement can be required.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a number of specific embodiments, numerous alternatives will be envisaged to the skilled person and are within the scope of the appended claims. For instance, although the above has been described with reference to the use of a web server 157 to provide the means by which content providers can create content slides, it will be appreciated that the invention is applicable also to alternative technologies for achieving the same or a similar result. This includes existing technologies such as off-line client and server systems, in which clients are provided with software applications that ensure that content slides are produced exactly in accordance with requirements of the server, as well as future technologies. In such cases, slide templates are provided to the client applications by the private network no, for instance the CPS 150.

Additionally, the algorithm used by the scheduler 161 may vary. For instance, the scheduler may use metadata associated with content slides and the scheduler database 166 to generate relatively short schedules, for instance involving only a few content slides.

Alternatively, the scheduler may use the scheduler database 166 to generate a schedule for a relatively long time period, for instance a day or more, with gaps in the schedule that may be filled with new content slides received and/ or approved by the

administrator during execution of the schedule. In these embodiments, the schedule does not need to be reformulated each time new content slides are received, but instead the new content slides can be inserted into pre-allocated slots within the schedule. Additionally, in the above embodiments, the completed content slides are absent of dynamic content. They can be considered to be still images. In other embodiments, at least some of the completed content slides may include video or animation content. In some embodiments, at least some of the completed content slides may include dynamic content in a small proportion of the slides. For instance, stock prices, news headlines and other such information received from the third party content providers 140, 141 may be provided in a 'ticker', for instance at the very uppermost part of the display 200, 201.

Numerous other alternatives will be envisaged to the skilled person.

Claims

1. A content aggregation and presentation system comprising:

a content production subsystem,

a scheduler, and

a playback module,

wherein the scheduler is configured to create a schedule relating to the presentation of content slides based on metadata associated with the slides and based on information included within a scheduling database, and

wherein the playback module is configured to cause playback of the content slides according to the schedule at each of plural display locations.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the metadata includes data indicating a priority of the corresponding content slide and wherein the scheduler is configured to create the schedule based on the priority information and based on the information included within the scheduling database.

3. A system as claimed in either preceding claim, wherein the content production subsystem is configured to provide plural slide templates to each of plural content providers, and to receive completed content slides from each of the plural content providers, through a web interface.

4. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the content production subsystem is configured to provide plural slide templates to a content provider on one or more web pages and, when a template has been selected, to provide a webpage comprising controls for allowing adaptation of content for inclusion in each of plural fields of the template along with a preview of a content slide completed with content that has been entered or selected for inclusion in the content slide.

5. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the scheduler is configured to provide completed content slides received from content providers for approval by an administrator and to include a completed content slide in the schedule only after the completed content slide has been approved by an administrator.

6. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein at least some of the completed content slides are absent of dynamic content.

7. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein at least some of the completed content slides include video or animation content.

8. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the scheduler is configured to schedule plural content slides in a sequence, with each content slide having a playback duration of between 5 seconds and 30 seconds.

9. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the content production subsystem is configured to provide one or more slide templates to an emergency services entity, and to receive one or more completed emergency service content slides from the emergency services entity, and

wherein the playback module is configured to cause playback of the emergency service content slides substantially immediately.

10. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the playback module is configured to cause playback of the content slides according to the same schedule at each of plural display locations.

11. A method of aggregating and presenting content, the method comprising:

12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the metadata includes data indicating a priority of the corresponding content slide, the method comprising the scheduler creating the schedule based on the priority information and based on the information included within the scheduling database.

13. A method as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12, comprising the content production subsystem providing plural slide templates to each of plural content providers, and receiving completed content slides from each of the plural content providers, through a web interface.

14. A method as claimed in any of claims 11 to 13, comprising the content production subsystem providing plural slide templates to a content provider on one or more web pages and, when a template has been selected, providing a webpage comprising controls for allowing adaptation of content for inclusion in each of plural fields of the template along with a preview of a content slide completed with content that has been entered or selected for inclusion in the content slide.

15. A system method as claimed in any of claims 11 to 14, comprising the scheduler providing completed content slides received from content providers for approval by an administrator and including a completed content slide in the schedule only after the completed content slide has been approved by an administrator.

16. A method as claimed in any of claims 11 to 15, wherein at least some of the completed content slides are absent of dynamic content.

17. A method as claimed in any of claims 11 to 16, wherein at least some of the completed content slides include video or animation content.

18. A method as claimed in any of claims 11 to 17, wherein the scheduler is configured to schedule plural content slides in a sequence, with each content slide having a playback duration of between 5 seconds and 30 seconds.

19. A method as claimed in any of claims 11 to 18, comprising: the content production subsystem providing one or more slide templates to an emergency services entity, and receiving one or more completed emergency service content slides from the emergency services entity, and

20. A method as claimed in any of claims 11 to 19, comprising the playback module causing playback of the content slides according to the same schedule at each of plural display locations.

21. A computer program comprising machine readable instructions that when executed by computing apparatus control it to perform the method of any of claims 11 to 20.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable code, which, when executed by computing apparatus, causes the computing apparatus to perform a method comprising:

23. Apparatus, the apparatus having at least one processor and at least one memory having computer-readable code stored thereon which when executed controls the at least one processor: