WO2017014966A1 - Système et procédé de création et de distribution de paquets d'emballage de cartes - Google Patents

Système et procédé de création et de distribution de paquets d'emballage de cartes Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2017014966A1
WO2017014966A1 PCT/US2016/041562 US2016041562W WO2017014966A1 WO 2017014966 A1 WO2017014966 A1 WO 2017014966A1 US 2016041562 W US2016041562 W US 2016041562W WO 2017014966 A1 WO2017014966 A1 WO 2017014966A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
card
wrap
descriptor
cards
widget
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/US2016/041562
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English (en)
Inventor
Dana A. Levine
Francis C. Li
Kunal K. BHASIN
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Wrap Media LLC
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Wrap Media LLC
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Publication date
Priority claimed from US14/838,164 external-priority patent/US20160103594A1/en
Priority claimed from US15/006,798 external-priority patent/US20170017634A1/en
Application filed by Wrap Media LLC filed Critical Wrap Media LLC
Publication of WO2017014966A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017014966A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
    • G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
    • G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
    • G06F16/958—Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
    • G06F16/986—Document structures and storage, e.g. HTML extensions
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F40/00—Handling natural language data
    • G06F40/10—Text processing
    • G06F40/166—Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
    • G06F40/186—Templates

Definitions

  • This invention relates to delivering content over networks, and more particularly, to an ecosystem that enables (a) third party creators to create card templates and widgets and (b) businesses and/or consumers to author wrap packages using the card templates and widgets for distribution, wherein the wrap packages are selectively authored to include (i) media content, (ii) application functionality and/or (iii) e-commerce related services.
  • Media content developers have a variety of authoring tools, document formats and content delivery schemes that can be used to create and present media content to users over networks, such as the Internet.
  • the content may be presented to users through a variety of mechanisms, including via web-sites, through the use of a mobile application (i.e., an "app") and downloadable documents such as PDF files.
  • apps i.e., an "app”
  • downloadable documents such as PDF files.
  • Each of these delivery mechanisms has limitations, particularly within a mobile computing environment.
  • PDF files While relatively simple to author, have a number of limitations.
  • the content of PDF files is static. Once created and delivered to a user over a network, there is no way for the viewer to interact, through the PDF file, with the distributor.
  • retailers commonly create PDF versions of product catalogs, which are distributed via a web page or email.
  • the PDF file When the PDF file is opened, the document is limited to only viewing. The viewer is unable to interact through the PDF file with the retailer, for instance, to ask questions about a particular item or to make a purchase.
  • PDFs are not dynamic documents, they need to be delivered to a consuming device as a single binary block.
  • PDFs especially if they are graphic intensive, are typically large files, which may be difficult to distribute, especially over wireless networks to mobile devices.
  • most PDF files are created for viewing on desktop computers, which have relatively large display screens.
  • the viewing of these PDF files on a mobile device such as a mobile phone with a relatively small viewing screen, often provides a poor user experience.
  • Web sites are typically "destinations", meaning a potential viewer is usually required to navigate to the web site to consume its content and functionality. Web sites are thus generally not considered as portable objects that can be readily delivered to consumers and other viewers, similar to messages.
  • web sites are typically optimized for desktop computing, providing a rich opportunity for user interaction.
  • mobile devices particularly mobile phones or wearable computing devices such as smart watches, small display screens and limited input/output capabilities, often results in a poor user experience.
  • it is often very difficult to read text and view images. It is also very difficult to input data and navigate from one web page to another.
  • apps are typically “stand alone” or monolithic software programs, designed to perform, a specific task or function, and intended to run on smart phones, tablet computers and other mobile devices.
  • An extremely wide variety of apps are now commonplace, such as productively tools like email, calendars, etc., gaming, GPS services such as Google Maps, text and/or voice messaging, live communication such as Skype, online banking, etc., to name just a few.
  • apps have replaced web sites as the preferred method for content providers to create and distribute media content to mobile computing device users.
  • Apps also have many advantages and disadvantages.
  • apps often provide rewarding, content-rich, user experiences, particularly on mobile devices.
  • a v/ell-designed app allows users to sequence through a number of views, presenting content to users in an orderly fashion.
  • apps are typically "stand alone" software applications that do not easily interact with other software applications.
  • the functionality of apps is often limited, typically only capable of performing the specific task(s) that they were designed to perform, and working only with the specific endpoints contemplated at the time they were developed.
  • apps typically are very complex and requires a very high level of design engineering expertise to create apps that are professional-looking and appealing.
  • apps typically are not cross- platform. App developers usually have to create and distribute multiple versions of the same app for the iOS/ Apple, Android/Google and the Microsoft platforms for example. As a result, the development and maintenance costs associated with creating and distributing an app is complex and very expensive.
  • apps typically have to be distributed through an application aggregator, such as the Apple App Store or Google Play. Apps, therefore, typically cannot be directly downloaded from the author/creator to users or consumers.
  • a system and method for more effectively distributing media content, application functionality and e-commerce related services is therefore needed.
  • each card is selectively authored to include content such as (i) multi-media, (ii) application functionality and/or (iii) e-commerce related services, in addition, the cards are authored into one or more linear sequences.
  • the content can further be authored to convey a "narrative" or "story” that unfolds as the cards are sequentially browsed in their linear order(s), similar to the turning of the pages of a book or magazine.
  • wrap packages are highly portable objects that can be distributed and saved similar to electronic messages. With these attributes, it is easy to widely circulate wraps, particularly to mobile phones.
  • wrap packages By widely distributing wrap packages to smart phones, content publishers, marketing firms, e-retailers, service providers and the like can readily deliver compelling advertising and/or business narratives - precisely where it matters the most - where many people now spend much of their time and consciousness. Wraps thus have the unique ability to transform the mobile phone into a powerful business tool by intimately contacting consumers at their point of immediacy.
  • wraps are uniquely capable of fostering in a new business paradigm, creating a new platform for selling, advertising, publishing, increasing brand loyalty, offering services, and contacting and engaging new and old customers alike.
  • destinations e.g., websites
  • monolithic systems e.g., "apps”
  • wrap packages can create opportunities for businesses and other organizations to innovate and improve product and service offerings, leveraging the mobile web in ways previously not possible.
  • the present invention is specifically directed to an ecosystem that enables (a) third party creators to create card templates and widgets and (b) businesses and/or consumers to author wrap packages using the card templates and widgets for distribution, in various embodiments, the card templates and widgets are maintained in a library.
  • the businesses and consumers using a wrap package authoring tool, ca access the library and incorporate the various card templates and/or widgets into their wrap packages. In this manner, businesses and consumers alike can quickly create wrap packages, including a wide array of content, application functionality, and e-commerce related services, by using the previously created templates and/or widgets created by third parties.
  • the card templates and/or widgets are organized within the library along one or more vertical markets.
  • the vertical markets may include, but are not limited to industries including retail, transportation, hospitality, travel, restaurant and/or food services, telecommunications, healthcare, banking, financial services, energy, insurance, automotive, education, government, food and/or beverage, media and/or entertainment, real estate and publishing.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wrap package layout that includes a plurality of cards threaded together so as to be viewable in linear arrays in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting the design, functionality and data integration capabilities of a representative card in a digital companion wrap package according to the principles of the present invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the media content and distribution model for distributing digital companion wrap packages in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a representative system for authoring, storing, distributing and consuming wrap packages in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5A diagrammatically illustrates selected components associated with defining and rendering a representative wrap package.
  • FIG. 5B diagrammatically illustrates selected components associated with defining and rendering a representative wrap package in accordance with another embodiment that utilizes state descriptors and/or behavior extensions.
  • FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the hierarchy of a wrap descriptor.
  • FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating the hierarchy of a particular card descriptor.
  • FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating the hierarchy of a second card descriptor embodiment.
  • FIG. 6C is a diagram illustrating the hierarchy of an embodiment of a gallery card descriptor.
  • FIG. 6D is a diagram illustrating the hierarchy of an embodiment of a trigger component descriptor.
  • FIG. 6E is a diagram illustrating the hierarchy of an embodiment of a feed descriptor.
  • FIG. 6F is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a widget descriptor.
  • FIGS. 7A-7M are a series of cards of an exemplary wrap package.
  • FIGS. 8A-8H are a series of cards for implementing an exemplary purchase of products through a wrap package.
  • FIG. 9A is a diagrammatic representation of a wrap distribution environment highlighting item stores useful in delivering wrap packages.
  • FIG. 9B is a diagrammatic representation of an alternative server/store architecture suitable for delivering wraps.
  • FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method of delivering a wrap package to a consuming device.
  • FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating a shim based method of delivering a wrap package to a consuming device.
  • FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating a method of generating a view based on a wrap descriptor and updating the view based on user inputs.
  • FIGS. 12A-12C illustrate a flow chart diagrammatically illustrating processing a wrap descriptor to create an object graph and DOM.
  • FIG. 13 illustrates the contents of a representative shim suitable for use in the method of Fig. 11.
  • FIG. 14 illustrates a representative wrap component model
  • FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating various components of an exemplary wrap runtime viewer.
  • FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating various components of an exemplary object graph.
  • FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary event handler.
  • FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating components associated with a representative event handler.
  • FIG. 19A illustrates a Twitter data feed rendered on a mobile device that has a wrap cover included therein.
  • FIGS. 19B-19D illustrate selected cards of the wrap associated with the wrap cover of FIG. 19A rendered in-line within the Twitter data feed.
  • FIGS. 20A-20D illustrate selected cards of the wrap associated with the wrap cover of FIG. 19A rendered in a new frame that occupies the entire screen of the mobile device.
  • FIG. 21 illustrates a selected card of the wrap associated with the wrap cover of FIG. 19A rendered in-line within a Twitter data feed at a different aspect ratio than shown in FIGS 19B- 19D.
  • FIG. 22A illustrates a Facebook news data feed rendered on a mobile device that has a wrap cover included therein.
  • FIG. 22B illustrate the first card of the wrap associated with the wrap cover of FIG. 22A rendered in-line within the Facebook data feed.
  • FIGS. 23A-23D illustrates an exemplary wrap package with a media feed card embedded therein.
  • FIG. 24 illustrates a wrap Twitter card arranged to incorporate a personal twitter data feed into a wrap package.
  • FIG. 25 illustrates a wrap Facebook card arranged to incorporate a Facebook news data feed into a wrap package.
  • FIG. 26 illustrates a card incorporating a countdown widget.
  • FIGS. 27A-27E illustrate a series of cards of another exemplary wrap package.
  • FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating the hierarchy of a wrap descriptor that includes global components.
  • FIG. 29 illustrates a global media player widget appearing within all of the cards of a wrap.
  • FIG. 30A illustrates a global audio widget appearing within all of the cards of a wrap.
  • FIG. 30B illustrates a play list overlay associated with the audio widget of Fig. 30A.
  • FIG. 31 illustrates a wrap package that includes an alternative global audio widget.
  • FIG. 32 illustrates a global behavior
  • FIG. 33 is a flow chart illustrating a representative process for generating card descriptors.
  • FIG. 34 is a flow chart illustrating a representative process for generating a wrap that includes global components.
  • FIG 35 illustrates a block diagram of an ecosystem for the creation and delivery of wrap packages using card templates and widgets maintained in a library in accordance with a non-exclusive embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG 36 illustrates a number of possible markets for which the card templates and widgets can be specifically created in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
  • FIG. 37 illustrates an implementation of a library of card templates and widgets organized into different vertical markets in accordance with a non-exclusive embodiment of the invention.
  • Fig 38 illustrates an exemplary wrap package in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
  • FIG. 39 is a flow diagram illustrating steps for implemented and using by the ecosystem of the present invention in accordance with a non-exclusive embodiment.
  • the present disclosure is directed to the mechanisms that support the distribution of media content, and a corresponding palette of application functionality and/or e-commerce related services, in the form of wrapped packages of cards (interchangeably referred to herein as a "wrap", "package” or “wrap package”).
  • a wrap package which includes a set of cards arranged in one or more predefined sequences, is a unique delivery mechanism for the distribution of authored content and functionality. Wraps are typically characterized by the following:
  • Each card is selectively authored to include media, such as text, photos, images, video, documents, etc. Since the cards are arranged in their one or more sequences, the media can be authored to convey a "story telling" narrative that unfolds as the cards are sequentially browsed;
  • the cards of wraps can also be selectively authored to include web or application like functionality
  • the cards of a wrap will typically have a defined presentational aspect ratio (typically, but not necessarily, a portrait view). With certain types of cards however, such as gallery cards for example, the size of the card exceeds the defined presentational aspect ratio. In which case, a viewer is required to scroll through the card, typically by swiping, to consume all the content of the gallery card.
  • the scrolling behavior of a gallery card in response to navigational inputs can be either continuous or "snap-to-card", where each navigational input reveals a different gallery item.
  • the gallery items of a gallery card can be arranged either vertically or horizontally within a given wrap package;
  • wraps On mobile devices having touch sensitive screens, the cards of wraps are navigated by swipe-browsing. Wraps thus mimic the way people already use their smartphones and other mobile devices such as tablets. Every swipe reveals a new card with a "bite- size" message and/or content.
  • Wraps are authored using a template-based authoring tool that requires little to no technical expertise. Wraps can, therefore, be simply and inexpensively created, allowing online retailers and others to promote and deliver their brand, products and/or interactive services through the web with an ease previously not possible. Up to now, developing apps or web sites typically required a high degree of software sophistication, significant cost, and took months or weeks to create. Now with wrap, businesses and other content providers can inexpensively create, with little software expertise, interactive wrap packages in hours or minutes.
  • wraps do not require a dedicated infrastructure for distribution and viewing.
  • wrap identifiers such as URLs
  • wraps can be distributed to a specific individual or widely to many either by including the wrap identifiers in messages (e.g., emails, texts, etc.), by posting in social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and/or embedding in online advertisements, etc.
  • This attribute meaning the ability to easily share and distribute wraps over already pervasive communication channels, is likely to increase the possibility of (i) wraps in general becoming ubiquitous in the mobile economy and (ii) individual wraps going "viral”.
  • wraps helps brands intimately deliver elegant, user experiences, precisely where it matters the most. Wraps thus have the ability to transform mobile devices into powerful business tools. By delivering wraps to mobile devices, it helps brands sell more and build recognition, relationships and loyalty among customers.
  • a runtime viewer is provided along with a wrap descriptor.
  • the runtime viewer is arranged to de-serialize the cards of the wrap descriptor and to generate a runtime instance of the wrap.
  • the runtime viewer may already be included in a native application residing on the consuming device.
  • wraps are thus a technological, mobile-first, storytelling and e- commerce platform. By making it simple, inexpensive and easy to (i) author narrative wraps with interactive functionality and (ii) to distribute wraps like messages, wraps have the unique ability to:
  • a wrap descriptor is composed of a set of card descriptors, each defining a structure, layout and content of an associated card.
  • the wrap descriptor may also include various wrap level components, attributes, behavior declarations and/or metadata.
  • Wrap and/or card descriptors will often separate content from their presentation. Content of any appreciable size will typically reference externally stored asset(s), as opposed to incorporating them into the descriptor itself. With this approach, the runtime viewer is responsible for obtaining the external assets at runtime. Wraps are thus "lightweight", meaning they are easier to download and distribute over mobile and cellular networks, which tend to be relatively low bandwidth.
  • Each card descriptor also commonly includes component descriptor(s) identifying the component(s) in the card and any behaviors or other attributes associated with such component(s). Behaviors are often declared rather than being explicitly defined within the descriptors. Thus, the runtime viewer is responsible for associating the behaviors declared in the descriptor with their associated components in the runtime instance. In other embodiments, card behaviors can be authored inline or otherwise associated with the cards.
  • the runtime viewer on the consuming device initially generates an object graph from the wrap descriptor and then subsequently generates a Document Object Model ("DOM") from the object graph.
  • the runtime viewer then cooperates with the browser on the device to generate a runtime instance of the wrap based on the DOM.
  • This two-step approach differs from how conventional web pages are usually processed and displayed.
  • the browser on a consuming device will convert Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) defining a web page into a DOM, which is then used by the browser to directly display the web page.
  • HTML Hyper Text Markup Language
  • the runtime viewer creates a card list in the sequence order(s) from the wrap descriptor and provides navigation tools that operate in cooperation with the browser to facilitate transitioning between cards during consumption.
  • the order of the cards is implicit in the descriptor structure. Since the navigation functionality is provided by the runtime viewer, the cards themselves do not have to include navigational constructs. That is, there is no need to provide explicit linking or navigation components in the cards to facilitate normal navigation between adjacent cards in the wrap, which helps simplify card design. Since normal navigation is handled by the runtime viewer in cooperation with the browser, the cards only require navigational constructs when the author desires to override the standard wrap navigational features.
  • cards may include navigational constructs that operate either in place of or in cooperation with the navigation tools provided by the runtime viewer.
  • swipe navigation is preferably facilitated when the consuming device has a touch sensitive screen, as is popular in most mobile computing devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.
  • Selectable GUI navigation buttons (such as arrows, buttons, text-based swipe directions, etc.) may also be displayed on the screen to facilitate navigation between cards.
  • non- touch screen based navigation may be facilitated when the consuming device has as a selection device (e.g., a mouse) and/or a keyboard or keypad where various keys (e.g., right, left, up and down arrow keys, etc.) may be used to navigate between cards.
  • wrap packages are a mobile-first marketing and commerce platform, that ideally provides a beautiful world of storytelling in bite-size moments that get and hold attention.
  • wrap packages can be used and distributed to other platforms, such a desktop computers or Smart TVs for example.
  • Wrap packages although highly suitable for mobile, are not limited only to mobile devices.
  • Wrap packages takes content combined with mobile app and website functionality and makes them into an elegant card-based narrative that is delivered in the browser as a sharable and savable message. Wrap packages thus provide an app- like user experience that is delivered as a live, interactive message from a cloud-based platform, using for example, the Software as a Service (SaaS) model.
  • SaaS Software as a Service
  • wrap packages creates opportunities for business and other organizations alike to innovate and improve marketing efforts, customer support, and user experiences in ways previously not possible, because an enabling interface and platform did not exist. Wrap packages can thus potentially define the next generation interactive web paradigm, particularly for mobile, although for desktop and other types of devices as well.
  • wrap packages Businesses and other organizations can simply and cheaply create, distribute, and manage storytelling mobile web user experiences, app like functionality, all in the context of wrap packages delivered directly to consumers.
  • businesses used to have to build destinations (websites) or use monolithic systems (apps) they can now provide consumers, particularly mobile device users, with a user experience that delivers the content they want combined with a complementary palette of functions and/or e-commerce related services.
  • Wrap packages are also platform and device independent. Wraps do not have to be written for any specific platform, such as iOS or Android, or for any specific device or class of devices (e.g. smart phones, tablets, desktops, etc.). On the contrary, a wrap package need be authored once and it will run on almost any device, regardless of the operating system or the type. This ubiquity, along with the ability to easily distribute wrap packages similar to messages, is a powerful construct that potentially can make the use of wrap packages near universal.
  • wrap packages thus solves a number of current problem with the mobile web. Unlike web sites, wrap packages are easy to consume on mobile devices and offer the opportunity to create compelling narratives and user experiences. In addition, the ability to incorporate app-like functionality into wraps provides a multifunction app-like experience, without having to be in an app, download an app, or open several apps.
  • a wrap is a portable container of multimedia content, such as text, images, photos, audio, video and the like, and interactive services designed for ease of delivery, exchange, and consumption. It is comprised of a collection of cards, which, from an end-user/consumer perspective, are atomic units of the aforementioned multimedia content and interactive sendees.
  • the cards in a wrap have an explicit sequence so that, when taken as a whole, they are ideal for, but not necessarily limited to, creating a narrative story as the cards are browsed in the defined sequence.
  • the multimedia content and/or interactive services contained by any given card can be determined entirely in advance or as late as the moment the wrap is consumed by the end-user.
  • Cards have a visual representation intended to evoke similarities to their physical counterparts. They have a fixed portrait aspect ratio that makes them ideally suited to current mobile computing devices as well as easy to scale up to and arrange to fit other display form factors, such as provided on laptop and desktop computers as well as smart TVs.
  • the physical card metaphor can also extend to the interactive behavior of cards in a wrap, as the user can use gestures that evoke the "flipping" of cards in a deck or bound booklet to navigate between them.
  • Cards can differ from their physical counter-parts in ways that provide for unique presentations of content or the aforementioned interactive sendees.
  • a gallery card provides the ability to present an expanded amount of content in a vertically stacked orientation such that the overall length (i.e., the number of cards in a horizontal sequence) of the wrap is not affected by the amount of content in the wrap. This aids in navigation since the user can flip to the previous or next card regardless of their current position in the gallery.
  • the cards of a wrap may include app-like functionality and/or interactive features, such as for example, the ability to purchase goods and/or services, make an appointment, resei-vation or booking for goods and/or services, the ability to conduct an online chats, GPS or location services, the ability to enter approvals and/or data, can all be incorporated in or other included in the experience when consuming a wrap package.
  • Such app-like functionality can be incorporated or included in a wrap using any of a number of different embodiments.
  • such functionality can be directly embedded in one or more cards of the wrap.
  • cards with widget components can be used, in this embodiment, a widget descriptor associated with the widget card would reference a remote widget server and provide the calls necessary to exchange data needed to present the app-like functionality within the widget card.
  • one or more card(s) may include links to allow "cul-de-sacing" to either a remote location such as a web site or dependent cards in the wrap package that are not necessary next in sequence order. In either case, either the remote web site or the dependent cards are used to implement or provide the app-like functionality.
  • control is returned to the originating card, meaning the viewer has completed a "cul-de-sac" while consuming the wrap.
  • the wrap package data structure definition, or schema contains a unique identifier and descriptive metadata for the wrap and contains a card package for each card in the wrap.
  • the card package is an abstract, platform- independent data structure representing the contents of a card, which is a composition of components representing internal atomic units of content such as text or an image or other nested containers of components. Components may also represent content that is dynamically generated at the time of consumption, for example, by fetching content from the Internet or other referenced locations or by processing input from the user.
  • Cards are thus like containers for holding and distributing media content, such as text, images, photos, audio, video and the like.
  • cards may also contain or hold executable objects that provide or enable real-time features, such as application functionality (i.e., the ability to schedule appointments, engage in online chats or conversations) and support e-commerce related services (i.e., the ability to purchase goods and/or services).
  • Cards are also consumable anywhere, meaning they have the ability to be resolved and displayed on just about any type of device (mobile phones, laptops, tablets, wearable computing devices such as smart watches, desktop computers, smart TVs, etc.), regardless of the platform (e.g., iOS, Android, Microsoft, etc.).
  • cards are a navigation metaphor. Each card can be authored to group related information that can be easily consumed within a user interface experience by swipe (or other simple gesture) navigation from card-to- card. Wrap packages thus represent a holistic, book like, narrative approach to presenting information and providing application and/or e-commerce related services to users and consumers, particularly those using mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablet computers.
  • each card in a wrap has defined content that is displayed in a predefined layout.
  • the cards in a wrap have the same size and aspect ratio.
  • the aspect ratio is preferably device independent and is preferably maintained regardless of device orientation and/or display window size.
  • the cards of the wrap packages are ideally authored in one or more linear sequences so that a magazine or book-like narrative unfolds, not only through the cards themselves, but also by the transition between the cards, as they are sequentially browsed.
  • the wrap packages are portable objects that may exist within a social data feed or within a custom application. Wrap packages are also readily distributed, similar to electronic messages, through e-mail, messaging, social-media, or via a variety of other electronic communication platforms. As a result, wrap packages are consumable, sharable and savah!e objects.
  • the entire user experience including any application functionality and/or e-commerce related services is substantially contained within the context of the wrap package itself, often (but not necessarily) without the need to navigate to other sites.
  • the wrap package 10 includes a plurality of cards 14 that are threaded together so as to enable browsing by swiping in one or more linear sequences.
  • Any of the cards 14 may optionally include various types of media, such as text, images or photos, audio, video, a live or streaming feed of media, 3-D objects, or content from other wrap packages (not illustrated).
  • Any of the cards 14 may also optionally provide application functionality, such as the ability to receive input data or display dynamically generated data, a calendar for scheduling or booking appointments or making reservations for goods and/or services, location/GPS, etc.
  • any of the cards 14 may optionally provide or support e-commerce services, such as the ability to browse products in a catalog, communicate with an online sales representative, and/or purchase product(s).
  • card 14A includes text
  • card 14B presents a gallery
  • card 14c includes images or pictures
  • card 14D includes a video
  • card 14E includes e-commerce related service(s)
  • card 14p includes a calendar function for scheduling appointments and/or booking reservations
  • card 14 G includes a user approval function
  • 14 n- i includes a data entry function
  • card 14 N includes location or GPS services, etc.
  • the cards 14 of wrap packages 10 can be navigated linearly by swiping or by using other suitable interfaces, such as a stylus or pen.
  • swiping In devices without a touch sensitive screen, alternative user interfaces are provided to facilitate transition (e.g., flipping) from one card to the next.
  • swipe-browsing or “swiping” is intended to mean the navigation from one card to an adjacent next card.
  • swipe browsing is typically implemented by the sliding of a finger or other input device across the display.
  • other navigation tools such as a mouse, keyboard or remote control, can be used for swipe browsing.
  • the content of the next card in the sequence is displayed. For example, by swiping either right to left or vice versa, the next card, depending on the swipe direction, in the horizontal sequence is displayed. Similarly, by swiping up and/or down, the next card in either the up or down sequence is displayed.
  • the user experience when consuming a wrap package is the wrap package itself (as opposed to a remote web site for example), viewable via a swipe-able interface.
  • some cards may also include one or more embedded link(s) that, when selected, enable navigation to either a non-adjacent card not in linear sequence or to another wrap package, a web page or some other location entirely outside of the wrap package.
  • embedded link(s) that, when selected, enable navigation to either a non-adjacent card not in linear sequence or to another wrap package, a web page or some other location entirely outside of the wrap package.
  • swiping allows for the scrolling through of the contents of a card 14, which are typically too voluminous to be displayed within the size of a fixed screen display, such as that provided on a mobile phone.
  • a particular wrap package 10 may include a plurality of cards organized in a horizontal sequence. By swiping right to left or vice versa, the next card 14 or the previous card 14 in the horizontal sequence is displayed. In the vertical direction, however, one or more selected cards 14B may be configured in the gallery format, allowing the viewer to scroll up or down by swiping through media content of the gallery.
  • a wrap package 10 authored and distributed by a car rental business may include a horizontal sequence of cards 10, each dedicated to a category of information pertinent to a traveler (i.e., cards dedicated to local hotels, restaurants, local tourist attractions respectively).
  • a traveler i.e., cards dedicated to local hotels, restaurants, local tourist attractions respectively.
  • relevant material within each category is displayed in a gallery format. For instance by swiping up or down the hotel card (not illustrated), a gallery of a number of local hotels is displayed.
  • the behavior invoked by an up or down swipe may differ. For example, swiping up or down my result in a continuous "rolling" of the content of the gallery card.
  • an up or down swipe may result in a "snap" action with the next item of content appearing after the snap, for example, as illustrated as cards 14Y and 14Z in Fig. 1.
  • the wrap package 10 is identified, as described in more detail below, through the use of a unique identifier (wrap ID 42) assigned to the package 10.
  • the wrap ID 42 may take the form of a Uniform Resource Identifier (URL).
  • URL Uniform Resource Identifier
  • the wrap ID may thus be provided as a link, which can readily be used to effectively send or retrieve the wrap package. That is, the wrap package may effectively be "sent" to a potential viewer as a link using any of the wide variety of mechanism that can currently - or in the future - be used to send a link or convey the URL.
  • this may include e-mail messages, text messages, SMS messages, via a Twitter tweet, as a post on social media such as Facebook, etc., discussion forums, walls or the like, as a link embedded in a document, an image, or a web page or any other media type, in a blog or microblog (e.g. Tumblr), or any other messaging or electronic content distribution mechanism or communication platform currently known or developed in the future.
  • wrap packages are therefore significantly different and more powerful than web sites. For example with wrap packages, they can be consumed "on the spot" where it is located (i.e., when delivered to a mobile device for example). In contrast with the selection of a banner ad appearing within a web site, where the viewer is taken to a new web page that is not (a) necessarily designed for mobile devices and (b) is self navigating, making it very difficult for a narrative to be conveyed. As a result, the user experience, particularly on mobile devices, may be very poor. Hence, the friction of providing a compelling user experience with wrap packages is far less than with web site.
  • the cards 14 of a wrap 10 can be displayed on the screen of virtually any type of computing device. It should be appreciated that the card metaphor is particularly well suited for use on mobile devices such as smart phones, tablet computers, etc., which makes the format particularly powerful for authors interested in developing content tailored for mobile devices.
  • wrap packages 10 By delivering wrap packages 10 to mobile devices, users and potential customers can be won over at their point of intimacy, where they spend their time and consciousness. Wrap packages thus allow authors, merchants and other content providers to create compelling narratives and provide ongoing application functionality and/or e-commerce support directly delivered anytime and anywhere to users, transforming their mobile devices into a powerful business tool that enhances mobile engagement and relationships. As a result, higher customer satisfaction, better brand engagement, and a higher conversion (i.e., click-through rates) and repeat e-commerce related activity compared to other forms of after sale promotions and merchandising will likely result.
  • FIG. 2 a diagram depicting the design, functionality and data integration capabilities of a representative card 14 in a wrap package 10 is shown.
  • beautiful, content-rich, cards 14 may be created either by automation or by individuals with even minimal design skills and experience.
  • the author either a person or an automated process, has the ability to easily create beautiful content-rich cards 14 that can selectively include text, images, photos, and other media similar to PDF files, but optionally, with the added benefit of additional application functionality and/or e- commerce related services, either embedded in the same card 14, or other cards 14, in the wrap package 10.
  • the content of a card 14 can be populated by a data processing system that automatically uploads predefined content into various defined fields of a card template.
  • wrap packages 10 that are content-rich, highly interactive, and that define a palette of services, functions and experiences related to the wrap package 10, all within the context of a story book-like narrative that unfolds as the cards 14 are browsed in their sequence order(s).
  • component libraries and the authoring tools allow for the authoring of cards 14 with a diverse, easy to use, reusable, set of component modules that provide a wide variety of application functions and e-commerce services.
  • application functions include, but are not limited to, for example, calendar functions, scheduling of an appointment functions, reserving or booking goods and/or services, such as a car rental, hotel room, or table at a restaurant, map or GPS related functions, support for online conversations, streaming live video or other media feeds, etc.
  • e-commerce related services include displaying product and/or service offerings, displaying user account information, engaging a sales representative in an online chat session, and enabling the purchase of goods and/or services, etc.
  • a calendar plugin could be configured to communicate with a reservation booking database plugin, which could communicate with a chat plugin.
  • the communication among the various plug-in services is accomplished through a common set of APIs.
  • a card 14 can be integrated with the back end software system for a large online retailer, which will automatically populate the content of a card 14 with product images, user account information, prior purchase information, and a host of other user-related information.
  • a card 14 can be used to capture data input from a user and provide it to a retailer's back end e-commerce software system.
  • a card 14 may display a one-click "Buy Now" function for a displayed item. When the Buy Now function is selected, previously saved user account information is automatically delivered to the back end software system of the online merchant, which then processes the information to complete the transaction.
  • the data entered by the user and/or the data presented via a card 14 of a wrap package 10 may thus be integrated with the back-end database, cloud computing services, web sites, etc., regardless if managed by an author and/or distributor of the wrap package or by a third party.
  • the data processing for the purchase of goods and/or services, appointments, and/or other application functionality and e-commerce related services may, therefore, be performed either within the wrap packages 10 itself or integrated with a remote data processing resource.
  • cards 14 can also be shared among other cards 14 in the same wrap package 10, with other wrap packages, with web sites, or just about any other data processing system.
  • a diagram summarizing the content and distribution model for wrap packages 10 is shown.
  • the content that may be included in the various cards 14 of a wrap package 10 may include photos and/or images, audio, video, text, 3-D objects, various types of streaming media (e.g., audio, video, audiovisual, data, biometric information, tickers, sensor outputs, etc.), other data types, application functionality and/or e-commerce services.
  • This content may further be combined with content mixed from other wrap packages 10 as well as live or streaming content.
  • the cards 14 of the wrap package 10 may be further modified based on analytics, intelligent personalization based on the demographics of targeted users or viewers, as well as the integration of either data input or data output to/from with other cards 14, other wrap packages 10, or remote data processing systems and processes, as explained above.
  • wrap package 10 can be delivered over a network to a user when the wrap ID 42 for the wrap package 10 and/or each card 14 is identified.
  • the media content, application functionality, and/or e-commerce related services is delivered only when needed.
  • the cards 14 of wrap packages 10 can be written once and are viewable on a display associated with almost any computing device running a browser. Accordingly, unlike applications, multiple version of a wrap package 10 need not be authored for multiple platforms.
  • wrap package 10 is thus essentially a cloud based portable object that may be readily distributed in a number of ways.
  • wrap packages 10 may be distributed by email, SMS messaging, ad networks, Twitter, merchant/retailer web sites, photo and/or video sharing web sites that support messaging, social networking web site such as Facebook, through the down-loading of applications from aggregators such as the Apple App Store or Google Play, or just about any means for electronically distributing data over a network, currently known or developed in the future.
  • the system 20 includes a server node 22, a plurality of computing devices 12, including but not limited to a desktop computer 12A, a laptop computer 12B, a tablet computer 12C, a mobile "smart" phone 12D, a wearable computing device, such as a smart watch 12E or smart glasses 12F and "smart" TVs 12G.
  • the server node 22 and the computing devices 12A-12G communicate with one another over a network 24.
  • the network 24 may be the Internet, an intranet, a wired or wireless network, a Wi-Fi network, a cellular network, other types of communication networks, or any combination thereof.
  • the server node 22 includes a "wrap" engine 26, which defines a web application framework 28, a storage device 30 and cache 32, each for storing wrap packages 10 and other data.
  • the server node 22 also may include a suite of tools, such as an authoring tool, an analytic engine tool, a media collaboration tool and a data transformation tool, for authoring wrap packages 10. Suitable authoring tools are described, for example, in U.S. patent application Nos.: 14/740,533, 14/740,539, 14/993,829 and/or U.S. provisional applications 62/211,310, 62/248,644 and 62/298,723, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
  • the v/eh application framework 28 is a software platform designed to support the manual and/or automated authoring of wrap packages 10.
  • the framework 28 is designed to alleviate the overhead associated with common activities performed during the authoring of many wrap packages 10.
  • the framework 28 may include one or more libraries to help with the authoring of common tasks, and modularizes and promotes the reuse of code designed to perform specific tasks, such as implementing application functionality and/or supporting e-commerce.
  • the web application framework 28 may be implemented using, but is not limited to, Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, Angular-JS, and/or any other language or framework currently known or developed and used in the future.
  • the web application framework 28 of the wrap engine 26 also performs content management as a way of organizing, categorizing, and structuring the media and other content resources such as text, images, documents, audio files, video files and modularized software code so that the content of wrap packages 10 can be stored, published, reused and edited with ease and flexibility.
  • the content management function is also used to collect, manage, and publish content, storing it either as components or whole documents, while maintaining dynamic links between the components and/or cards 14 of a wrap package 10.
  • the web application framework 28 of the wrap engine 26 is structured around multiple tiers, including but not limited to a client tier, an application tier and a database tier.
  • the client tier refers to the browser enabled communication devices 12 that execute and display cards 14 of wrap packages 10, as well as web pages written in HTML or another mark-up language.
  • Trie database tier which is maintained in storage 30, contains the one or more libraries of user and/or platform provided media content, software components, modules, etc. used for the authoring of wrap packages 10.
  • the application tier contains the software that runs on the server node 22 and that retrieves and serves the appropriate wrap package 10 from storage 30 and/or cache 32 when requested by a computing device 12.
  • wrap packages 10 are essentially data objects, they can be both cached and delivered over a Content Delivery Network Interconnection (CDN), both of which can be effectively used to deliver wrap packages 10 with minimal delay.
  • CDN Content Delivery Network Interconnection
  • commonly requested wrap packages 10 may be cached in the cache 32, which provides faster access and delivery times than storage 30.
  • other caching techniques such as pre-caching, may be used with popular wrap packages 10, to speed up delivery times. Since the amount of storage in the cache is typically limited, cached wrap packages 10 and other data may be periodically replaced by any known replacement algorithm, such as first-in, first-out or least recently used for example.
  • one or more author(s) 34 may access the server node 22 over a network 36, which may be different or the same as network 24.
  • the author(s) 36 interact with the wrap engine 26, including the web application framework 28, and the above-mentioned suite of tools for the creation, editing, optimization and storing of wrap packages 10.
  • the one or more author(s) 34 can also access third party content 38 for inclusion into a wrap package 10.
  • wrap packages 10 can be authored manually by one or more individuals or electronically in an automated process.
  • wrap engine 26 fetches the corresponding wrap package 10 from storage 30 or the cache 32 and serves it to the requesting computing device 12 for consumption in a format customized for the viewing device.
  • Fig. 4 the authoring and distribution diagram of Fig. 4 is merely representative and should not be construed as limiting.
  • multiple server nodes 22 for the authoring and/or distribution of wrap packages 10 may be provided at the same or different locations.
  • multiple instantiations of a given wrap package 10 can be stored at multiple server nodes 22, typically located at different geographic locations.
  • the server node 22 that is most capable of quickly delivering a requested wrap package 10 sometimes referred to as the "publication server” is the node 22 that will deliver the wrap package to the requesting device 12.
  • a wrap package 10 includes a set of one or more cards 14.
  • Each card 14 may contain one or more components 16 that serve as containers for content objects 17.
  • the content objects 17 may be simple or complex.
  • Simple content objects 17 include standard web-based content types such as text, images, video clips, etc.
  • More complex content objects 17 may include objects having more complicated structures and/or behaviors, as will be described in more detail below.
  • the structure of the wrap 10, including the structure, layout and components 16 of each of its cards 14 is preferably defined by a wrap descriptor 40.
  • the actual structure of the descriptor 40 may vary widely and a few different suitable descriptor structures are described in more detail below with respect to Figs. 6 - 6F.
  • each descriptor 40 has a number of descriptive elements that together define the structure, layout, components, behaviors and content of the wrap.
  • Some content objects 17, such as text may be directly included (in-line) in the component 16.
  • Other content objects 17, such as images or video clips may be included by reference, e.g., through simple URL references, or in-line through an encoding method such as MIME (Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions).
  • Complex content objects 17 may be specified in-line or by reference and may (a) contain other components 16 or content objects 17 and/or (b) specify abstract behaviors.
  • Referenced content objects 17 stored outside of the wrap descriptor 40 are sometimes referred to herein as assets 65.
  • the referenced assets 65 may take the form of almost any type of content that can be included in the wrap package. This can include text, photos, images, 3-D objects, audio, video, and other media content or streams and/or a variety of executable objects, services and/or other functionality.
  • an asset may take the form of a stream and the wrap descriptor 40 is arranged to identify the source of the feed.
  • the stream could be a live audio or video stream, a data feed such as a stock ticker, sensor outputs, biometric information, etc.
  • some or all of the assets 65 associated with a wrap 10 may be stored and accessible from a dedicated wrap server. However, that is not a requirement. Rather, an asset can be retrieved from any location that would be accessible by the consuming device (e.g., through the Internet, an intranet or private network or any other reliable means), and there is no need for the various assets 65 to be located in a single asset store, although that may be desirable in many circumstances.
  • the wrap package 10 has an associated identifier, the wrap ID 42, that uniquely identifies the wrap 10.
  • the wrap ID is preferably a globally unique identifier (GUID).
  • GUID globally unique identifier
  • the wrap ID 42 takes the form of a URL, or any other identifier that can be converted to, or extracted from, a URL, which facilitates access to the wrap 10 over the Internet using conventional mechanisms.
  • An example of a conversion of the wrap ID to a URL might be adding a domain as a prefix to the wrap ID to form a URL (e.g., www.wrap.com/wrap/ ⁇ wrapID>).
  • Fig. 5A also diagrammatically illustrates selected components associated with defining and rendering a representative wrap package 10.
  • the illustrated components may optionally include one or more covers 15, a wrap descriptor 40, a wrap runtime viewer 50 and various referenced external assets 65.
  • the wrap descriptor 40 defines the structure, layout and components 16 of each of the cards 14 within the wrap package 10.
  • the wrap descriptor 40 typically includes the wrap ID 42 and a set, deck or array of card definitions or card descriptors 46, each defining the structure of an associated card (as described with respect to Fig. 6 for example).
  • the wrap descriptor 40 may also include other information of interest such as a wrap name/title 44 and optionally one or more cover identifier(s) 43 and/or other information or metadata 45 about the wrap package 10.
  • the wrap is preferably stored in a data format that separates the data from the presentation.
  • a component based descriptor format is used in which attributes (e.g., styles etc. - which may take the form of CSS) and behaviors may be may be applied at any defined component level (e.g., the wrap, card, or component levels, but not to individual elements (non-components) within a given component.
  • a textbox component may include an extended string of text. Any special formatting desired for the component is preferably associated with the textbox component and thus the entire text string.
  • wrap descriptors can be represented in a number of different formats.
  • a wrap descriptor may be formatted using markup languages, such as XML, which are common formats used for the distribution of web content and functionality.
  • markup languages can be used to represent a wrap
  • the Applicant has found that using a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format for representing wrap descriptors works particularly well for defining a wrap package of cards.
  • JSON JavaScript Object Notation
  • JSON is a lightweight, text-based, language independent data interchange format. Although JSON is a well known for exchanging data, to the best of the knowledge of the Applicant, JSON has not previously or conventionally been used to define the entire structure, layout and content of web based cards or even web pages and it has not been used to represent the structure, layout and content of a set of cards such as wrap packages as described herein. On the contrary, conventional wisdom suggests that markup languages (in conjunction with style sheets - e.g. CSS) are the most suitable medium for defining the content and presentation of web based documents, including both traditional web pages and web based cards.
  • style sheets e.g. CSS
  • the definition of a wrap package 10 may be stored as a JSON data object. That is, the descriptor 40 may take the form of a JSON object. In other embodiments, a BSON (Binary JSON) data object may be used. Although the use of JSON or BSON data objects is described, it should be appreciated that in other embodiments, the wrap package 10 may be stored in a variety of other suitable formats, whether now existing or later developed.
  • JSON JavaScript interpreters
  • JavaScript interpreters are ubiquitous and included in virtually all web browsers and web based viewers which simplifies (and reduces the size of) the runtime viewer since there is no need to include a dedicated descriptor parser.
  • XML XML is used to create the descriptor
  • many runtime environments would need to be supplemented by an appropriate XML parser.
  • JSON expression
  • This expression communicates that the defined structure is an array of "cards".
  • the communication of data type, especially arrays, is beneficial within the context of wrap packages because wrap descriptors may contain repeating elements where implicit order is important.
  • the expression "cards”: [. . .] is used to define the set of cards that constitute the wrap as can be seen, for example, in the Appendices of the incorporated provisional application No. 62/325,373 (P005P7).
  • the implicit order of the array elements i.e., the order of the cards in the array
  • the implicit order of the array elements is then used by the runtime viewer to define the order of the cards within the runtime instance of the wrap package. That is, the order of the cards in the package is implicitly defined by the wrap descriptor.
  • wrap descriptors may be organized as a nested array structure.
  • an array of cards each defined by a card component, is defined in a predefined sequence for browsing.
  • a sub- array of one or more component(s) is typically defined.
  • yet another sub-array of sub-component(s) may optionally be defined.
  • JSON has potential advantages from a security standpoint. Most notably, since JSON is intended as a data interchange format, it does not have a facility for handling executable scripts such as JavaScript. In contrast, many mark-up languages, including HTML, have the facility for inclusion of executable scripts such as JavaScript, which allows web sites authors to incorporate interactive features into their websites through the use of scripts. However, a drawback of allowing JavaScript execution within a web page is that it complicates the security architecture of the encapsulating browser in part because of the risk of a webpage, knowingly or unknowingly, including malicious scripts.
  • behaviors are declared in the wrap descriptor and the runtime viewer has, or knows how to obtain, the associated behavior definitions. This allows wrap authors to instill wraps with a variety of functionality and interactive features without requiring the author to script the desired functionality. This helps reduce the possibility of errors being introduced by inexperienced wrap authors and generally simplifies the process of authoring compelling wraps with a variety of desired functionality.
  • wrap descriptors could also potentially be modified to support the use of scripts in a JSON object.
  • a customized runtime de-serializer would be needed to interpret such scripts and some of the security benefits of using JSON would potentially be reduced.
  • the optional cover 15 of the wrap package 10 is typically a graphic object that contains an embedded hyperlink to the wrap (e.g., the URL used as wrap ID 42) and can be placed in any suitable type of electronic media to represent the wrap package 10.
  • a wrap 10 may be accessed by clicking on or otherwise selecting the cover 15 or by clicking on, or otherwise selecting any other type of link containing the wrap ID 42.
  • either the cover 15 or a link can be distributed to potential viewers of the wrap package 10 using any available tool.
  • the wrap package 10 may be distributed by: (i) placing the cover 15 or a link on a webpage, in an ad or in any other location that can be accessed by a potential viewer via a browser; (ii) by posting the cover 15 or a link on a blog, a microblog, a forum, a wall etc.
  • the cover 15 may take the form of an image from the wrap package 10 itself (e.g., the first card), however, that is not a requirement.
  • the wrap package 10 is configured to be rendered on a consuming device 12 in conjunction with a wrap runtime viewer 50, which is also sometimes referred to as the wrap run-time engine or simply the viewer.
  • the runtime viewer 50 provides a set of tools and functionalities that are helpful for viewing and/or interacting with the wrap.
  • the viewer 50 will take the form of a dedicated, platform specific, wrap viewer application (e.g., an applet or app in the context of a mobile device), a plug-in (e.g. a browser plug-in) or other mechanism installed on the viewing device that provides the necessary functionality.
  • the wrap viewer functionality may be incorporated into other types of applications.
  • the delivery of a wrap packages 10 may optionally be accompanied by a run-time viewer 50 that includes a set of associated tools and functionalities suitable for use by a conventional browser to generate and/or render the runtime instance of the wrap based on the wrap descriptor 40 and to facilitate user interaction with the wrap package 10.
  • a run-time viewer 50 that includes a set of associated tools and functionalities suitable for use by a conventional browser to generate and/or render the runtime instance of the wrap based on the wrap descriptor 40 and to facilitate user interaction with the wrap package 10.
  • the wrap package 10 can be consumed on a wide variety of different devices and operating system platforms (e.g., iOS, Android, Microsoft, etc.) without requiring the users to download and install a device and/or platform specific viewer application.
  • devices and operating system platforms e.g., iOS, Android, Microsoft, etc.
  • the viewer toolset provided with the wrap viewer 50 includes navigational tools 51, sharing tools 52, storing tool 53, various e-commerce tools 54, presentation engine/tools 55, security and access control tools 56, a rendering engine 57, and application functionality tools 58.
  • the navigational tools 51 facilitate navigation within the wrap package 10.
  • the sharing tools 52 provide mechanisms by which a consumer of the wrap 10 may share the wrap with others, e.g., by e-mail, by SMS message, via a social media post, etc.
  • Storing tool 53 allows a user to persistently store the wrap and/or when applicable, the wrap state, either locally or remotely.
  • the e-commerce tools 54 may include a variety of functionalities that can help facilitate a variety of e- commerce tasks including purchasing, making reservations, etc.
  • Application functionality tools 58 enable "app-like" functionality within the wrap package 10, such as conducting online chats, GPS functionality, etc.
  • Presentation engine 55 controls the presentation. In some embodiments, the presentation engine 55 may be arranged to present the wrap on the consuming device at a scale and in an aspect ratio that is at least somewhat optimized for the device.
  • Security and access control tools 56 provide security and access control functionality, which might include encryption functionality and user authentication services.
  • the publisher of a wrap may want to limit the circulation of the wrap to specific users or groups of users.
  • a few, nonexclusive examples of such circumstances include when the wrap is created for use as: (i) an active receipt for a purchase as described in U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/062,056 and 62/075,172 (both incorporated by reference herein for all purposes) and (ii) a ticket for an event as described in U.S. Provisional Application No.
  • the viewer 50 may optionally also include a rendering engine 57 arranged to create and/or render a runtime instance of the wrap on a consuming device 12 based on the descriptor 40.
  • the rendering engine is arrange to dynamically generate the HTML (or other markup language) use by a browser or other viewing mechanism on the device 12 to render the wrap at runtime.
  • the rendering engine 57 is arranged to create an object graph based on the descriptor 40 and a document object model (DOM) based on the object graph. The browser or other suitable app or application may then use the DOM to render the wrap package 10.
  • DOM document object model
  • the runtime viewer 50 resides in a native app and JSON is used for the wrap and card descriptors, it may not be necessary to perform the step of generating a DOM based on the descriptor 40. Instead, the runtime instance will typically be generated or derived from the object graph without the need for generating a DOM, since the wrap will not be rendered within a browser.
  • the viewer 50 may also optionally have any number of card behaviors definitions 60.
  • different cards can be designed to exhibit a wide variety of different behaviors.
  • various desired behaviors can be defined separately from the cards themselves.
  • the behaviors are known to or accessible by the wrap viewer 50 (e.g., desired behaviors may be defined through behavior definitions 60 or may be accessible as behavior extensions 62 as seen in Fig. 5B).
  • desired behaviors may be defined through behavior definitions 60 or may be accessible as behavior extensions 62 as seen in Fig. 5B).
  • the descriptor for any particular card or component may simply declare the desired behavior and the viewer 50 will know how to impart such behavior to the wrap/card/component and/or how to obtain an extension that imparts such behavior.
  • Fig. 5A the behavior definitions and the various tools are illustrated as separate items to facilitate their description. However, in practice, some of the illustrated tools are simply sets of associated behaviors, and therefore, the illustrated distinction between the behaviors and such tools is/are largely for emphasis.
  • the wrap package 10 may be rendered on a wide variety of different devices 12A through 12G. These devices may have a wide variety of different screen sizes, capabilities, and viewing mechanisms.
  • a particular device 12 requests a wrap package 10
  • the browser compatible run-time viewer may be written in any format that is appropriate for execution by a browser.
  • JavaScript JavaScript
  • JS JavaScript
  • wrap viewer 50 may be implemented using a wide variety of other now existing or future developed frameworks and/or languages.
  • the DOM rendering may be replaced with a React framework or another suitable framework currently known or developed in the future.
  • FIG. 7A - 7M A specific wrap is illustrated in Figs. 7A - 7M.
  • the illustrated wrap 310 is an informational wrap about a particular product line - hint ® water.
  • the wrap includes a deck of nine cards - i.e., cards 311 - 319.
  • Card 311 is the first card.
  • Cards 312-315 are informational cards that describe the hint ® water flavored products as illustrated in Figs 7B-7E respectively.
  • Card 316 is a gallery card that shows a number of different available flavored water non-carbonated products as illustrated Figs 7F- 7H respectively.
  • Card 317 is a second gallery card that shows a number of different available carbonated flavored water products (Hint Fizz) as illustrated in Figs 7I-7K respectively.
  • Card 318 is an e-commerce card that allows a user to order a monthly subscription of Hint products as illustrated in Fig. 7L.
  • Card 319 is the last card and includes various tools that allow a user to share the wrap and/or comment on the wrap on various social media forums as illustrated in Fig. 7M.
  • the wrap 10 may be constructed in a variety of different formats.
  • a descriptor 40 defining the wrap may be constructed using JavaScript Object Notation - i.e., in the form of a JSON data object.
  • JavaScript Object Notation i.e., in the form of a JSON data object.
  • a representative JSON descriptor that defines the wrap 310 shown in Figs. 7A-7M is provided in Appendix I of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/325,373, which is incorporated herein by reference.
  • Different cards 14 within a wrap 10 can be designed to exhibit a wide variety of different behaviors.
  • the card descriptor 46 within a wrap 10 can be arranged to declare the behavior of the card 14 without internally defining that behavior. Rather, in such circumstances, the desired card 14 behaviors are defined within the wrap viewer 50 as part of the behavior definitions 60 or through behavior extensions 62.
  • a card template designer can define the behavior for cards 14 authored using the template, or can define a set of available behaviors from which a card author can choose. If a set of behaviors are available to the card author, then the authors selects the desired behavior from the available set. In either case, the desired behavior is declared as part of the card.
  • card 316 is a gallery card as illustrated in Figs. 7F to 7H - which are screen shots of a set of gallery item panes, with each gallery item describing a different flavor of hint® water - specifically, pomegranate 321, blackberry 322 and blood orange 323 respectively.
  • each item has a similar layout with an image 324 on the left being an image of the fruit that flavors the water, and image 325 on the right being an image of the relevant water bottle and a trigger 340 which identifies the product, indicates it cost, has a "Buy Now" graphic 327 and provides a mechanism that can be used to purchase the displayed item as will be discussed in more detail below.
  • a gallery card may wish the card to be scrolled in a variety of different ways.
  • one approach may be to conceptually divide the gallery card 316 into a number of frames or "pages" 316(a), 316(b), 316(c) that have the visual appearance of being separate cards as seen in Figs 7F-7H.
  • a scroll command e.g., a vertical swipe gesture
  • the items in the gallery may be relatively smaller such that the displayed item does not take up the entire card display area.
  • a key 338 may be included for providing a visual indicator of the relative up/down position that is being displayed relative to the overall number of views of the gallery card.
  • the runtime viewer may optionally be arranged to display a graphical hint element 339 (e.g. the "swipe" graphic) on the first pane of a gallery card to help convey to the user that the card may be navigated vertically to view additional gallery items.
  • a graphical hint element 339 e.g. the "swipe" graphic
  • the visual appearance, text (if any), size and/or display location of the hint element 339 may be widely varied.
  • the rules regarding when such hints are used may be widely varied.
  • the hint can be provided on the first frame of a gallery card only the first time that the gallery card is displayed. In another example, the hint can be displayed each time the gallery card is displayed.
  • the card descriptor 46 for the gallery card includes a behavior declaration that identifies the desired behavior for the card which can then be bound to the card at run-time by the wrap viewer (e.g., browser based viewer, native viewer, etc.). For example, this could take the form of a statement such as:
  • the developer of the wrap viewer 50 can define any number of card behaviors that are supported by the viewer, such as but not limited to the different scrolling techniques in the example above.
  • Third parties can provide extensions that define still other behaviors (e.g., a scrolling behavior in which a two finger swipe reacts differently than a one finger swipe, etc.).
  • the developer of a card template can define which of the available behaviors are available for use with the template (e.g., a subset, or all of the defined scrolling behaviors). Wrap and card authors using the template can then select which of the behaviors available to the template they would like to associate with the card, and the chosen behavior is declared as part of the card descriptor 46.
  • the first card in a sequence (e.g., card 311) may be arranged to facilitate a transition to the second card (e.g., card 312) by swiping to the left - but a swipe to the right may have no effect.
  • the transition may be animated, as for example, by an animation that resembles flipping the first card in a manner that resembles turning the page of a physical book.
  • the final card in the deck (e.g., card 319) may be arranged to facilitate a transition back to the second to the last card (e.g.
  • Intermediate cards may be arranged to facilitate transitioning to the next page in response to a left swipe and transitioning to the right in response to the preceding page in response to a right swipe.
  • the gallery cards 316, 317 may also be responsive to vertical swipes to facilitate scrolling through the gallery, whereas various other cards which do not have associated galleries may not be responsive to vertical swipes.
  • a left swipe from any of the gallery card items or "pages" e.g., 316(a), 316(b), 316(c)
  • the gallery card behavior can be set such that the next page that the sequence transitions to varies based on the currently displayed gallery item or page.
  • a wide variety of other card behaviors can be defined and implemented using the same behavior definition approach.
  • a card can have one or more triggers embedded therein. Triggers are hooks associated with displayed items that can cause an action or behavior in response to an event (e.g. a user input). That is, a predetermined user action or other event (such as the selection of the displayed item) triggers a defined action.
  • a trigger is a component 16 of a card. The trigger has associated behaviors and one or more associated handlers. When a triggering event is detected, the associated handler causes execution of the desired action or behavior.
  • the triggering event may be a user input such as the selection of a displayed trigger component (e.g., by tapping or performing another appropriate gesture relative to a button or other displayed item configured as a trigger component).
  • the activating event may be system generated.
  • System generated events can include sensor input based events, time or timer based events, the receipt of a particular message, the determination that a particular navigational sequence has occurred within a wrap, geo-location or proximity based events (e.g., the viewing device is located within a particular store or geographic area, or near to other users viewing the same wrap) or any of a wide variety of other computer detectable events.
  • a trigger may activate any desired action or exhibit any desired behavior which can be associated with the trigger through appropriate behavior declarations 95.
  • Virtually any type of computer implementable action or behavior can be associated with a trigger.
  • a linking trigger may be used to link the user to another card within the current wrap, to send the user to another wrap, webpage or other destination.
  • the linking trigger may also be arranged to define a desired linking behavior (e.g., open in same tab, open in new tab, etc.).
  • Other triggers may initiate a wide variety of other action.
  • triggers can be used to enable a wide variety of actions, including invoking of a number of different application-like functionalities or e- commerce related services. For example, a trigger may be used to initiate an action
  • the wrap 310 illustrated in Fig. 7 has a number of triggers. These include purchasing trigger 340 (Figs. 7F-7K), subscription trigger 360 (Fig. 7L) and social media triggers 381, 382, 383 (Fig. 7M).
  • the purchasing trigger 340 is arranged to facilitate a user purchase of the displayed product.
  • the trigger 340 of Fig. 7F-7K includes purchasing trigger 340 (Figs. 7F-7K), subscription trigger 360 (Fig. 7L) and social media triggers 381, 382, 383 (Fig. 7M).
  • the purchasing trigger 340 is arranged to facilitate a user purchase of the displayed product.
  • Fig. 7F is associated with a generally rectangular region that bounds the text and graphic located at the bottom of the card, including the text "pomegranate $18 for 12 16-ounce bottles" and the adjacent "Buy Now” button.
  • the region that involves the trigger is generally shown by a dashed box in Fig. 7F.
  • Selection of the trigger 340 links the user to a mechanism that facilitates the purchase of the identified item.
  • the other above-identified triggers in the wrap 310 are characterized by and operate in a manner similar to the Buy Now trigger 340 of Fig. 7F.
  • a purchase mechanism within a wrap package 10 may be widely varied.
  • the user may be linked to the vendor's website, where the purchase may be made in a conventional manner through the website. If this approach is taken, it is often desirable to access the target website through a "Cul-de-sac" so that the user is returned to the wrap when finished with any transactions they wish to make (a Cul-de-sac has the property of returning to the initiating wrap card/page when the user closes the target website).
  • the selection of the trigger causes the wrap to transition to a purchasing card (or sequence of cards) within the same wrap where the desired transaction can occur.
  • Figs. 8A-8C One such approach is described below with respect to Figs. 8A-8C.
  • the transition could be to a separate purchasing wrap.
  • the transaction can be completed without leaving the current card - particularly when the user is using a secure viewer that knows the user's identity and relevant purchase related information.
  • the transaction can be completed using a "one- click" purchasing option, where previously stored customer billing, shipping and other account information is used to process the purchase.
  • the specific behavior associated with the link may be declared in the same manner described above. For example, consider a situation where the trigger activates a link to an external website. There are several ways that such a link could be implemented. One approach might be to link to the target web page in the currently active browser tab, which has the effect of navigating away from the wrap. A second approach might be to open a new browser tab and open the target webpage in that new browser tab. A third approach might be to initiate a Cul-de-sac in the current browser tab and open the target webpage in the Cul-de-sac (a Cul-de-sac has the property of returning to the initiating wrap card/page when the user closes the target website).
  • the card template developer can make these three link behaviors available to the trigger and the card author can select the desired behavior.
  • the card developer can also define a default link behavior selection in the event that the card author does not affirmatively make a selection.
  • trigger 340 in card 316 has these three possible linking behaviors in response to activation of a trigger.
  • a representative trigger component descriptor structure is described in more detail below and is illustrated in Fig. 6D.
  • Figs. 6 - 6F a variety of specific descriptor structures suitable for use in defining various wraps, cards and/or components will be described. Although specific descriptor structures are illustrated, it should be appreciated that the structure of the various descriptors can be widely varied. In general, the descriptors are arranged to define the structure, layout, content and behaviors of the wrap without details of its presentation on a particular device. That is, the descriptors capture the functional and behavioral intent of the author, in a platform independent way, such that the runtime may implement the described structures and behaviors in a way optimal for the platform in question. [00178] A wrap generally will include multiple cards and the corresponding wrap descriptor will typically have discrete descriptors for each of the cards.
  • the card descriptors each include a unique card identifier and define the structure, behavior, layout and content of the corresponding card. Behaviors associated with any particular card can be applied at the card level (i.e., associated with the card as a whole), at a component level (i.e., associated to a particular component alone - which may or may not include subcomponents) or at any subcomponent level. Since the card descriptors are discrete, self-contained, units with a unique identifier, it is very easy to mix wraps (i.e., use cards created for one wrap in a second wrap). When cards are mixed, their components and associated behaviors remain the same - although it is possible to define behaviors that are context or state aware and therefore exhibit different states/properties/responses/etc. in different circumstances.
  • the components are encapsulated units that may have defined content (although such content may be dynamic) and, when desired, specific defined behaviors, styles and/or other attributes.
  • each component has a unique identifier and may optionally also have an associated type and/or name.
  • the use of encapsulated components with unique component identifiers makes the components highly modular such that an authoring tool can readily use and reuse the same components in different cards and/or wraps. Behaviors can be associated with the component and any component can be composed of one or more subcomponents which themselves are fully defined components.
  • the behaviors are preferably declared in the descriptor rather than being explicitly defined within the descriptor. In that way, the behavior declaration acts as a hook which can be used to associate virtually any programmable logic with a card/component/etc.
  • the behaviors are preferably defined (or at least obtainable) by the runtime viewer.
  • Fig. 6 diagrammatic ally illustrates the structure of a first representative wrap descriptor 40.
  • the wrap descriptor 40 includes the wrap ID 42, the wrap title 44, and a card descriptor 46 for each of the cards 14.
  • Each card descriptor 46 describes of the structure, layout and content of the associated card.
  • the wrap descriptor 40 may also optionally include cover identifier(s) 43 and/or any other desired information or metadata 45 relevant to the wrap.
  • the cover identifier(s) 43 identify any cover(s) 15 associated with the wrap.
  • 45 may include any other information that is deemed relevant to the wrap, as for example, an indication of the creation date and/or version number of the wrap, attributions to the author(s) or publisher(s) of the wrap, etc.
  • the card descriptors 46 may be arranged in an array, deck, or in any other suitable format. In the diagrammatically illustrated embodiment, each card descriptor
  • the card 46 includes: a unique card identifier (card ID 71); a card layout 75; and optionally, an associated card type 73.
  • the card layout 75 preferably includes at least one of a layout identifier (layout ID 76) and a layout definition 78 and optionally, a layout name 77.
  • layout definition 78 may be provided in a variety of different formats.
  • Cascading Style Sheets CSS
  • CSS is a style sheet language used for describing the look and formatting of a document.
  • other style sheets and/or other now existing or future developed constructs may be used to define the layout of the cards.
  • the card ID 71 is preferably a unique identifier that uniquely identifies the associated card 14.
  • An advantage of using unique identifiers as card IDs 71 is that the cards 14 are not wed to a particular wrap package 10, but rather, can to be used in or shared among a plurality of wrap packages. That is, once a card is created it can be used in any number of different wraps by simply placing that card's descriptor 46 at the appropriate locations in the card decks of the desired wrap package.
  • the unique card IDs 71 can be used to help streamline the process of using one or more cards 14 from one wrap package 10 in a second wrap (sometimes referred to as the "mixing" of cards 14 and/or wrap packages 10), which can help simplify the process of creating the second wrap package.
  • the card IDs 71 may also take the form of URLs, although this is not a requirement.
  • a potential advantage of using URLs as the card IDs 71 is that the URLs can potentially be used to allow a card in the middle of the wrap to be more directly accessed from outside of the wrap.
  • the card layout 75 defines the layout of the components 16 of the associated card 14.
  • the card layout 75 includes a card layout ID 76 which uniquely identifies the associated layout.
  • the descriptor itself defines the layout using a conventional web presentation definition mechanism such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
  • the layout definition may be accessed from a server using the layout ID 76.
  • CSS is a style sheet language used for describing the look and formatting of a document written in a markup language. CSS enables separation of document content from the document presentation, including elements such as the layout, colors and fonts. Thus, CSS is very well adapted for inclusion within the wrap descriptor 40 itself.
  • the layout ID 76 is also useful in the context of the aforementioned authoring tool used to create and author wrap packages 10.
  • the authoring tool is provided with a number of pre-defined templates (card layouts) from which an author of a new card can choose.
  • Each template has one or more containers/components 16, which are arranged on the card in a predetermined manner for holding card content 17.
  • the template itself can have any particular layout, or can be used to create a particular layout. In either case, the particular layout can be assigned a unique layout ID 76, and thereafter, be used and reused in conjunction with different cards thereby simplifying the card creation process.
  • the card type 73 (which is optional in the descriptor) relates primarily to such an authoring tool.
  • the templates may be categorized into different groups or classes.
  • the classes/groups may relate to their intended uses, the entity for which the templates are to be used, to the creator of the templates or any other logical grouping of templates.
  • card type 73 can be assigned to one or more predefined card templates, depending on their intended function.
  • an authoring tool may include one or more card templates, each centric for the display of text, visual media such as photos or images, the playing of video, live or streaming media, application functionality (e.g., scheduling appointments, GPS, etc.), or supporting e-commerce (e.g., displaying products and/or services for purchases, chatting with online sales representative, etc.) respectively.
  • application functionality e.g., scheduling appointments, GPS, etc.
  • supporting e-commerce e.g., displaying products and/or services for purchases, chatting with online sales representative, etc.
  • card type ID 73 may be assigned.
  • Such a template based approach can greatly simplify the authoring of cards 14 and wrap packages 10, since the author(s) need not be an expert in HTML, scripting or other typical web page language constructs required in order to create the card(s) 14 as typically required with creating conventional web pages. Rather, those details are embodied in the selected template itself, which translates to a specific layout 75, which in turn is identified by the layout ID 76. When a run-time instance of the wrap package 10 is created, layout 75 is used to format the associated card 14.
  • pins 80 The associations between components 16 and their contained content objects 17, whether explicit in the card descriptors, or implicit and anonymous, are sometimes referred to herein as "pins" 80.
  • pins 80 When explicit, pins 80 are identified in the card descriptors 46 by a universally unique Pin ID 81, and by a symbolic pin name 82.
  • pins When implicit, pins are anonymous at runtime, but may at design time be instantiated in order to provide operable constructs to the authoring tools, in which case they will share the name and ID of the component they bind and associate.
  • the symbolic name of a pin (pin name 82) or component is both Human and Machine-Readable, for example, "Headline”, “Glyph”, “Body”, “Image”, “Video”, “Cul-de-sac”, or any other heading that the template designer deems appropriate.
  • the symbolic name is used to identify its function; can be used and bound to by constraints and layouts to further constrain their display, behavior and function; and is used by the authoring tools to identify the role of the thus-associated component and map fields from one layout to another when changing the layout associated with a card.
  • Multiple pins or components can share the same symbolic name. When they do, it implies that they serve the same role in the system, and that the same rules will apply to them.
  • Components 16 contain there associated content 17 and may also contain or reference zero or more attributes or constraint objects, specifying metadata to manage or modify the display of, or behavior of, that component.
  • Constraint objects may specify abstract symbolic data used by the runtime to determine how to display or manage the object containing it, (the Constrained Object,) or the behavior of that object. Examples of such abstract symbolic data are CSS class names, behavior names, or other symbolic names acted on by other objects in the system.
  • Constraints may also contain concrete specifications to modify the display or behavior of the object, or its container or any contained objects.
  • An example of the former is containing CSS rules applied to the content.
  • An example of the latter is inclusion inline or by reference of JavaScript code that acts on the constrained object.
  • the various constraint objects may be thought of as attributes that define the style, format, behaviors, source/feed, and/or constraints associated the corresponding content 17.
  • these attributes 86 include style attributes 93, source attributes 87 and other constraint objects such as behaviors 60, 62.
  • other attributes of a component can be defined and declared as appropriate for the associated content.
  • the style attributes associate various styles with the content 17 and may take the form of style sheets (e.g. CSS) or other conventional style definition mechanisms.
  • style sheets e.g. CSS
  • the style attributes 93 may include features such as the font, size, case, color, justification, etc. of the text.
  • the style attributes may include the color of the glyph, the size, etc.
  • the source attributes 87 indicate the source of the associated content 17.
  • the source attribute may simply be a reference or pointer (e.g. a URL) that identifies the location of a static content object (e.g., an image, a photo, a video, etc.).
  • a static content object e.g., an image, a photo, a video, etc.
  • the content can also be dynamic.
  • the content object associated with a component of a wrap could be the current price of a particular stock.
  • the source attribute identifies the feed from which the current price will be retrieved when the card is rendered.
  • a feed is a structured source.
  • a web feed is a data format for providing users with frequently updated content.
  • web feeds may be structured to provided content that can be dynamically updated after the wrap has been rendered.
  • Some web feeds are server side event driven as is commonly used to facilitate live updates - as for example, sports score updates, stock price updates, etc.
  • ⁇ feeds are polling feeds in which the wrap periodically polls a source.
  • Another type of feed is a streaming feed.
  • a live streaming feed may present a live stream that is progressively rendered as the stream is received.
  • live streams include live video streams, audio streams, biometric streams, stock ticker streams.
  • the source attribute 87 may take the form a feed descriptor that defines the nature and structure of the feed as well as its feed characteristics including source location, data format(s), update semantics, etc. For example, some feeds (e.g. live feeds and live update feeds) require that a socket be opened and kept open as long as the feed is active. Polling feeds require the identification of the desired polling frequency. This and other metadata addressing the update semantics of the feed may be contained in the feed descriptor, and inform the runtime of the desired update behavior.
  • the source attribute may include a reference to a data feed object (not shown) that defines the data feed.
  • a card in a wrap for a sports stadium could show the nearest concession stands, restrooms, etc. which can vary as the user roams around the stadium.
  • Another card could show the stats of a baseball player currently at bat.
  • a social networking card may inform a user when their friends or others sharing similar interests are nearby.
  • a retailer may wish to run special offers that update periodically.
  • Other constraint objects may include declarations of specific behaviors that are intended to be associated with the component 16 and/or content 17. Such behaviors may include behaviors 60, 62 known to or accessible by the runtime viewer 50 as discussed above.
  • FIG. 6A diagrammatically illustrates an alternative pin based card descriptor structure 46A.
  • Appendix II of incorporated U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/325,373 illustrates a representative wrap descriptor 40A that takes the form of a JSON object that utilizes the pin based card descriptor structure 46A illustrated in Fig. 6A.
  • Figs. 27A-27E illustrate the wrap defined by the wrap descriptor of the referenced Appendix II.
  • various descriptor elements are labeled with corresponding reference numbers in that Appendix II.
  • the card descriptor 46 includes a unique card ID, 71, a card name 72, card type 73 and a card layout 75.
  • the layout 75 includes a layout ID 76, optionally a layout name 77 and an explicit layout definition 78.
  • the layout definition takes the form of style sheets (e.g., cascading style sheets (CSS)).
  • CSS cascading style sheets
  • the illustrated embodiment includes both the layout ID 76 and an explicit layout definition 78, it should be appreciated that either could be eliminated from the descriptor if desired.
  • the explicit layout definition is not part of the descriptor structure, it could be accessed through the use of the layout ID.
  • the layout definition 78 is explicitly provided, the explicit use of the layout ID 76 may be eliminated.
  • the descriptor 46A also includes an array of zero or more pins 80, with each pin 80 corresponding to a first level component 16.
  • Each pin 80 includes a pin ID 81, a pin name 82 and an associated component 16.
  • the component 16 includes a component ID 88, a component type 89, and the component content 17. As indicated above, the content may be provided in-line or by reference. Any desired attributes and behaviors may then be associated with the component through a set of zero or more component attributes 86 which potentially include any desired component style class declarations 91, component style sheets (CSS) 93 and component behavior declarations 95.
  • the style class declarations 91 refer and bind to CSS classes defined in the layout definition 78 that are used to define the format of the associated component 16.
  • the first pin 80(1) in Appendix II has an associated component style class declaration 91(1) that refers to and binds the font size style "font size-xl" 96 defined in layout 78 to the associated text content 17(1) .
  • Component style sheets 93 provide an alternative component level mechanism for associating specific styles and formatting with a component 16.
  • the card layout definition 78 will define the styles and formats associated with each component in a robust manner that is satisfactory to the card author.
  • there is no need to include any component level style sheets 93 and it is expected that in many (indeed most) such card implementations, no component style sheets would be provided. Rather, the associated styles may be bound through the use of class declarations 91.
  • the component style sheets 93 provide a mechanism by which the style assigned to the component by the layout definition 78 may be overwritten, which gives card authors great flexibility in defining the stylistic presentation of their content without altering the card layout definition.
  • style sheet are used to assign styles to the components since they are currently a popular format for associating different styles with HTML content.
  • style sheet are used to assign styles to the components since they are currently a popular format for associating different styles with HTML content.
  • Behaviors 60, 62 can be associated with a component on the component level in the same manner as the style sheets. This can be accomplished, for example, through the use of behavior declarations 95 which declare specific behaviors 60, 62 with their associated component. It should be appreciated that the ability to associate specific behaviors with specific components in a general manner provides tremendous flexibility in the card creation process that facilitates the creation of cards having an incredibly wide range of functionality and behaviors while maintaining a simple, compact, and highly portable wrap structure. Even though there is an ability to associate behaviors with specific components, it is expected that the behavior set may be null for many components because they would have no need to have any specific behaviors associated therewith.
  • the card descriptor 46A also associates any desired card level attributes and/or behaviors with the card through a set of zero or more attributes 86C that are associated with the card at the card level.
  • the card attributes 86C potentially include any desired card level style class declarations 91C, card level style sheets 93C and/or card level behavior declarations 95C which work in substantially the same way as the component attributes, except that they operate at the card level.
  • the wrap descriptor 40 can also have similar wrap level attributes 86W.
  • the various subcomponent(s) may have their own associated component attributes 86 regardless of the tier of the component/subcomponent.
  • Fig. 6B diagrammatically illustrates an alternative card descriptor structure 46B that does not utilize pins 80.
  • the structure of card descriptor 46B is generally similar to the structure of card descriptor 46A described above with respect to Fig. 6A except for the use of pins. Therefore, the attributes (e.g., styles and behaviors) are associated with their corresponding components 16 rather than with pins 80.
  • the card descriptor 46B includes a card ID 71, a card name 72 and a layout 75.
  • the layout 75 includes a layout ID 76, layout name 77 and layout definition 78.
  • the descriptor then includes an array of zero to many components 16.
  • Each component 16 includes a component ID 88, a component name 84, a component type 89, the associated content 17 and the associated attributes 86.
  • the associated attributes may include associated classes 91, component style sheets or definitions 93, behavior declarations 95 and/or their associated behaviors 60, 62.
  • Appendix III of incorporated U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/325,373. illustrates a representative wrap descriptor 40B that takes the form of a JSON object that utilizes the component based card descriptor structure 46B illustrated in Fig. 6B.
  • This descriptor defines the same wrap illustrated in Figs. 27 A- 27E and is generally equivalent to the wrap descriptor of Appendix II of incorporated U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/325,373.
  • various descriptor elements are labeled with corresponding reference numbers in the Appendix. It is noted that the attributes container 86 is labeled "Styles" in the JSON code of Appendix III.
  • FIG. 6C illustrates a representative gallery card descriptor 46G.
  • the illustrated embodiment uses the component based descriptor approach of Fig. 6B although it should be appreciated that other card descriptor hierarchies (such as those illustrated in Figs. 6 and 6 A can be used as well.
  • Gallery card descriptor 46G includes card ID 71G, card name 72G (in this case "Gallery Card”), and card layout 75G with layout ID 76G, layout name 77G and CSS layout definitions 78G, which together define a layout suitable for a gallery card.
  • the initial component is gallery component 16G, which has a component ID 88G, a component name 84G, a component type 89G, gallery component content 17G, and any associated attributes 86G (including class declarations 91G, style sheets 93G and behavior declarations 95G).
  • both the component name 84G and the component type 89G are "Gallery.”
  • the "content” of the gallery component 16G is a set of one or more gallery item components 116.
  • Each of the gallery item components 116 typically, although not necessarily, has the same component structure previously described and can be thought of as subcomponents. This introduces a powerful feature of the described architecture. That is, the "content” of any particular component may be one or more "subcomponents”. Similarly, the content of any of these "subcomponents" may also include one or more next tier components and so on, with the components at each tier having the same generic structure.
  • each gallery item component 116 includes: a component ID 88, which may be thought of as a gallery item ID; a component name 84, a component type 89, content and any associate attributes 86 (potentially including class declarations 91, style sheets 93 and behavior declarations 95).
  • the component name 84 and component type 89 for the gallery item 116 is "Gallery Item".
  • the content of the gallery item 116 is a set of components (subcomponents) that make up the gallery item (that is, gallery items 116, which are subcomponents of the gallery component 16G, themselves have subcomponents which might be thought of as third tier components).
  • Each of these gallery item components has the same structure as any other component.
  • the gallery item components may include a headline component 16H, and an image component 161 (shown in Appendix III of incorporated U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/325,373). Only the headline component 16H is shown in Fig.
  • a behavior can be associated at the card level, the gallery item level, the component of a gallery item level or at any other level at which components are used.
  • An example of a card level behavior might be the aforementioned gallery card "snap to item" behavior 60C, which can be seen in the Appendices I, II and III.
  • An example of a gallery item subcomponent level behavior might be a trigger as described below.
  • the trigger component 16T includes an optional trigger component ID 88T, a component type 89T, a component name 84T, content 17T and any associated attributes 86T (including any class declarations 91T, style sheets 93T and behavior declarations 95T).
  • the component type 89T is labeled "trigger” and the component name 84T is labeled "transact” indicating that the trigger is a transaction trigger.
  • the content 17T of the trigger component 16T in this illustrative example includes three subcomponents.
  • the subcomponents include a text box 16TT, an image 16TI that takes the form of a "buy button” and a link 16L.
  • An example of such a trigger 340 can be seen in Fig. 7F wherein the content of the text box 321 is "pomegranate $18 for 12 16-ounce bottles", the content of the image is the buy button 327 and the link is a link to an external e-commerce site where a purchase transaction may occur.
  • the link 16L has an associated behavior "open-in-new-tab", which causes the browser to open the target URL in a new tab when the trigger is activated by tapping on a touch sensitive display anywhere within the region defined by the trigger or by otherwise activating the trigger.
  • the described link trigger behavior is a good example of a component level behavior.
  • the link component 16L is a first level component of the trigger and therefore the link is activated by tapping on (or otherwise selecting) any component within the trigger - as for example either the text box 321 or the buy button 327.
  • the card creator preferred to have the link activated only by selection of the buy button 327, that can readily be accomplished by making the link a component of the buy button rather than a first level component of the trigger - or, by moving the text box component definition out of the trigger - as for example to the same component level as the trigger itself. Any tap or click in the bounding rectangle of the trigger, as defined by the components contained by the trigger, results in the trigger being activated.
  • the trigger component may be included as a first tier component in the card descriptor or as a subcomponent at any level within the card descriptor hierarchy. Although a particular trigger descriptor structure is illustrated, it should be appreciated that equivalent functionality can be obtained using a variety of different descriptor arrangements. It should further that Fig. 6D is illustrative for providing an example for the purchase of an item for sale. It should be understood, however, the cards can be authored with triggers for a wide variety of actions besides purchasing an item, such as the reservation or booking of goods and/or services, online chats, GPS related services and functionality, etc.
  • any wrap descriptor 40 or individual card descriptor 46 may include one or more feed descriptors 187.
  • Each feed descriptor 187 has a number of descriptive elements that together define an associated feed in a manner that can be used by the runtime to integrate information from the feed into a rendered wrap instance in the manner desired by the wrap author.
  • feed descriptor 187 in accordance with a nonexclusive embodiment will be described.
  • the descriptive elements of feed descriptor 187 include a feed type 105, a feed source 107, a desired lifecycle 109, a feed target 111, an update frequency indicator 113 and any required feed parameters 115.
  • the feed descriptor 187 may also optionally include a feed ID 103 and/or a feed name 104.
  • the feed type 105 indicates the type of the associated feed. In general, most feeds can be categorized into categories or "types" that share similar traits and/or requirements. As previously discussed, some of the feed types might include "live” (server side event driven) feeds, polling feeds, streaming video feeds, streaming audio feeds, etc. When the feed descriptor is processed by the runtime, the feed type can be used to help identify the resources that may be required to support the feed. For example live streaming feeds and server side event driven feeds may require the opening of a socket for the feed and keeping the socket open for the duration of the defined feed lifecycle 109.
  • feed formatted using either RSS or Atom are formatted using either RSS or Atom and the runtime can be configured to handle either of these web feed formats or any other desired feed format.
  • a feed format field (not shown) can be added to the descriptor or the feed format can be dictated by the feed type.
  • the feed source 107 indicates the location from which the feed can be obtained. Often, the feed source 107 takes the form of a URL, although other endpoints or source identifiers may be used in alternative embodiments.
  • the lifecycle 109 indicates the feed's lifecycle semantics. That is, when and how the feed in activated, the conditions under which it remains active and potentially, when it is closed.
  • a few potential lifecycles might include: (a) "while-card-visible” which opens the feed when that associated card is displayed and keeps the feed active as long as the associated card is the visible card within the wrap; (b) "always” which opens the feed when the associate wrap is rendered and keeps the feed active as long as the wrap is displayed; (c) "on-card-open” - which activates a feed any time the wrap transitions to the associated card; (d) “on-wrap- load” which opens the feed when the wrap is loaded; (e) “on-user-selection” which opens and/or updates the feed in response to a user input (e.g., the selection of a displayed button or other user activated trigger).
  • lifecycles such as “while-card-visible” and “always” may be more appropriate for live and streaming feeds, or feeds that affect globally-visible wrap state (e.g. in a globally visible sports score ticker or stock ticker) whereas others, such as “on-card-open” or “on-wrap- load” may be more appropriate for polling feeds.
  • Which type of feed is most appropriate is highly context-dependent, and will be determined by wrap authors.
  • feed lifecycle management when a feed is no longer active may also vary widely based on what is appropriate for a particular feed. To illustrate this point, consider a feed that is active "while-card-visible.” When the user navigates away from the relevant card, the feed becomes "inactive" and there are several different feed handling approaches that can be utilized at that stage. For example, in some circumstances, it may be desirable to simply close the feed and the associated connection when the user navigates away from the relevant card. Thereafter, if the user navigates back to the card, a new feed/connection is opened - with or without retained knowledge of what was previously downloaded.
  • Feeds may also remain active in order to collect events, and to initiate alerts related to those events. For example, in a chat session, it may be desirable for a wrap may indicate that there was activity on another card, based on an incoming chat message, and in some cases not force the user back to that card. In other cases the wrap author may choose to cause the user to be brought back to a chat card when a new message comes in. Moreover, a feed may be manually initiated or terminated, e.g. in the case of a user chat session, when the user chooses to initiate or terminate a chat session, perhaps with a customer service person, or another user.
  • the target 111 indicates the callback endpoint for the feed - which may be the method to call when an event happens.
  • the target will be a container within the wrap that the feed is to be associated with.
  • the intended container will be the component or other structure (e.g., card/wrap) within which the feed descriptor 187 is defined within the wrap descriptor 40. That is, when the feed descriptor 187 is included as part of a particular component definition, it might be assumed that the feed is intended to be bound to that particular component. Alternatively, if the feed descriptor 187 is included as part of a card descriptor 46 outside of any of the associated component descriptions, it might be assumed that the feed is intended to be bound to the associated card. Still further, if the feed descriptor is included as a part of a wrap descriptor 40 outside of any of the associated card descriptors 46, it might be assumed that the feed in intended to be bound to the wrap as opposed to any particular card or component.
  • feed descriptor may be desirable to bind to an endpoint or containing structure that is different than the structure within which the feed descriptor appears within the wrap descriptor. For example, in some circumstances it may be desirable to overlay the feed content over all of the cards or a subset of the cards within a wrap. In such a circumstance, it may be desirable to associate the feed descriptor with the overlay or the wrap rather than a particular card or card component. At the same time, the feed may be defined as part of a particular card, or as part of a particular component of a particular card.
  • the target field 111 provides a simple mechanism that provides great flexibility in allowing a card author to associate a feed with any suitable structure within the wrap without forcing a rigid feed descriptor authoring syntax, while the default behaviors make it easier for the author to build more standard feed behaviors.
  • the default target may optionally be set to the container associated with the structure within which the feed descriptor appears in the wrap descriptor 46.
  • the default target could be the containing card, wrap or other level container.
  • the explicit target definitions can be eliminated and all targets can be implicitly defined by the location of the feed descriptor 187 within the wrap descriptor. Although such an arrangement can work well, it should be appreciated that it lacks some of the flexibility provided by supporting explicit target definitions.
  • representative targets include: "container” - which refers to the container associated with the structure within which the feed descriptor 187 appears; "parent” - which refers to the parent of the structure within which the feed descriptor 187 appears; "card” - which refers to the card within which the feed descriptor 187 appears; “warp” - which refers to the wrap within which the feed descriptor 187 appears; “grandparent”, etc. It is noted that when a relative term such as "parent” is used, the level of the containing structure will be dependent on context.
  • the term “parent” when “parent” is used in the context of a subcomponent, the “parent” would be the containing component. However, when the term “parent” is used in the context of a first level component, the term “parent” would refer to the containing card, etc. It should be noted that the same target can be identified by multiple methods: relative references, absolute references, and default references being the primary embodiments.
  • the frequency 113 is particularly relevant to polling feeds and indicates how often the feed should be polled. In some circumstances it will only be desirable to poll the feed once - e.g., when the associated card is opened, which can be uniquely defined by the combination of Lifecycle: on-card-open and Frequency: once. In other circumstances it may be desirable to periodically poll the feed, as for example, every minute, every 15 seconds, every 5 minutes, etc.. In still other circumstances it may be desirable to poll when the card or wrap is first opened and thereafter only poll in response to user inputs or other events, as for example in response to the user selection of an "update" button (not shown).
  • feeds may require the passing of specific parameters to the server that may be used by the server for various control, tracking or authentication or other purposes.
  • Feed parameters 115 can be used to pass such parameters to the feed server.
  • the feed parameters take the form of name/value pairs although other data structures can be used in other embodiments.
  • the feed parameters 115 may be static and explicitly included in the wrap descriptor.
  • a card employing a feed is associated with a particular ad campaign, it may be desirable to identify the ad campaign through the use of campaign identifier passed a feed parameter.
  • the feed parameters may be variables.
  • a card arranged to provide current MLB scores sports may use team identifier parameters to identify the teams of interest to the user, with the user being given the ability to select the teams of interest - as for example through the selection of one or more teams of interest through a menu provided on the card.
  • the specific parameters that are appropriate for any given feed and the manner in which the parameters are obtained may vary widely and will often depend in large part on the APIs associated with the feed.
  • a feed engine 540 in the runtime viewer has a set of rules that know how to access and bind the feed appropriately based on the descriptor information.
  • the runtime viewer can readily access the feed source and deliver the content to the appropriate container when the associated card/wrap is rendered based on this descriptor information.
  • any particular feed descriptor can vary significantly based on the nature of the feed and its intended use within the wrap.
  • a representative, nonexclusive, polling feed descriptor 187a may have the following structure:
  • the feed descriptor 187a defines a "polling" feed as indicated by “polling” feed type 105.
  • the feed is queried once each time the card is opened as indicated by frequency indicator 113 and lifecycle 109 respectively.
  • the source 107 of the feed as well as the target container 111 are also provided.
  • the target is "container" which refers to the structure within which the feed descriptor 187 appears.
  • the feed descriptor may also optionally include a feed ID 103 and/or a feed name 104, in addition to any feed-specific parameters.
  • a representative, nonexclusive, server side event driven feed descriptor 187(b) may have the following structure:
  • the feed descriptor 187b defines a "live" server side event driven feed as indicated by "live” feed type 105.
  • the feed is activated any time that the card is visible so that updates can be displayed as they are received.
  • the runtime feed engine 540 knows to open a connection with the server when the associated card is displayed and to keep it open as long as the card is visible based on the feed engine rules associated with "live" feed types 105 and the declared “while- card-visible" lifecycle 109.
  • the source 107 of the feed as well as the target container 111 are indicated in the same manner as the previously described polling feed 187a.
  • the card associated with the illustrated feed is designed to provide current scores for MLB baseball games.
  • the feed is arranged such that the specific teams to be followed can be identified in feed parameters 115 (i.e., Team parameters 116) sent to the server.
  • feed parameters 115 i.e., Team parameters 116
  • two teams, the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets are indicated.
  • the feed will only provide updates on games involving at least one of those teams.
  • the team parameters 116 are specifically identified in the descriptor.
  • the associated card may include a selector interface that allows users to select which games they are interested in following.
  • the team parameter in the descriptor might specify that selector, might be a null or default field that can be filled and/or overridden by user selection, or other structure as appropriate.
  • chat services One of the application functionalities that is supported by the wrap runtime is chat services.
  • chat functionality can readily be integrated into the any wrap. Chats typically require the use of a feed which can be defined in the same manner as other feeds.
  • the feed used in a chat session can take the form of a live feed, a polling feed, or any other available feed structure.
  • the feed structure that is most appropriate for any particular chat will depend in large part on the nature of the communications that are expected. In implementations where communications are expected relatively continuous, a live feed may be most appropriate. In implementations where communications are expected to be relatively infrequent, a polling feed with an appropriate polling interval may be more appropriate.
  • the specific chat feed structure may vary with the design intent of the chat tool provider.
  • a representative, nonexclusive, chat feed descriptor 187(c) may have the following structure:
  • the feed type is customer service 105 which is a polling type feed with the update frequency 113 is "every 30 seconds."
  • 'every' is a keyword indicating a polling interval
  • 30 is a parameter indicating the number of units
  • 'seconds' indicates the units applied to the unit parameter.
  • chat types There are a number of other chat types that may be appropriate, but way of example, "group” chat which may involve multiple participants, "single user" which may be a point to point chat, etc.
  • the lifecycle 109 is defined as "open-on-user-selection" which indicates that the feed is activated directly or indirectly by user selection as opposed to automatically when the wrap is renders or an associated card us displayed. Any suitable gesture can be used to activate the feed - as for example, by a user tapping or clicking on a "Chat Now” button (thereby activating a trigger that in turn launches the chat session). Some chat sessions may require or request certain information to initiate the session. When some (or all) of the required information is known at the time the wrap is authored, the appropriate information/values can be included in the feed descriptor parameters 115. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, a user name and an account number is desired (if available).
  • variables can be provided in the descriptor, (e.g. $user_name,) as placeholders, (e.g. [Account #]), or be incorporated dynamically from session state information, user cookies, or other available state information.
  • User specific information such as user name, account number (in illustrated embodiment a Macy' s account number) may be stored persistently at any appropriate location, as for example in a state descriptor, the runtime viewer, a cookie associated with the runtime viewer, etc.
  • the runtime viewer 51 can then look up the information corresponding to the declared variables appropriately at runtime - e.g., when the wrap is rendered, when the chat session is launched or at any other time that is deemed appropriate. In some circumstances, the requested information may not b available to the wrap. If the requested information is optional, then the chat session can be initiated without that information. If required, the user may be prompted to input the requested information.
  • Application functionality can be incoiporated into a wrap in a wide variety of different manners, in some wraps, behaviors are integrated directly into one or more card to instill desired wrap functionality.
  • Another construct that the wrap runtime supports to facilitate the integration of different functionalities into a wrap is the component type "widget.”
  • a widget component creates an internal frame within the associated card (e.g. an HTML iframe) and points to an external source that supplies the content for the internal frame.
  • the widget component typically contains a URL that points to the source (e.g., a server associated with the widget) and may specify any number of parameters to be passed to the server that may be helpful to the server in determining the specific content that is appropriate to supply to the internal frame.
  • the runtime When a widget component is loaded by the runtime, the runtime creates an internal frame within the associated card and obtains the contents to populate the internal frame from the identified source.
  • the content rendered within the internal frame associated with the widget is dictated by a source/server that is external to the wrap runtime rather than by the wrap descriptor itself.
  • the internal frame may take the form of an HTML iframe which is a well established HTML construct that facilitates embedding a document inside another document.
  • the iframe effectively creates a blank frame within the associated card that can be populated with content supplied by a server associated with the widget.
  • the content may be provided in HTML format which allows standard browsers to render the content within the frame.
  • the HTML may include any desired scripts (e.g. JavaScript) to provide the widget with desired behaviors.
  • HTML iframes work particularly well because HTML is currently the de facto standard markup language used to create web pages and is therefore supported by virtually all state of the art web browsers and is familiar to most web designers.
  • HTML iframes are used in the specific example, it should be appreciated that in other embodiments, the internal frames may be constructed using other structures and/or may be have their content delivered in a variety of different now existing or later developed formats, markup languages, etc.
  • a widget component descriptor 118 is included in the associated card descriptor 46.
  • a representative widget descriptor architecture is illustrated in Fig. 6F.
  • the widget descriptor 118 includes a component type 89W (which in this case is type "widget"), a component ID 88W, an optional component name 84W, and a widget definition 120.
  • the widget definition 120 includes a widget ID 121, a widget name 122 and a definition 124 which is labeled "schema" in Fig. 6F.
  • the definition 124 includes a source identifier 126 that identifies the location of the server that will supply the widget content and parameter(s) 130 that represent parameter(s) to be passed to the server when the widget is instantiated.
  • the widget definition 120 also preferably includes frame size and position related identifiers such as width 127, height 128 and position 129.
  • the width 127 and height 128 identify the internal frame's intended height and width, while the position 129 identifies its position within the card - e.g., the X-Y coordinates of its origin. It should be appreciated that the actual dimensions of the displayed cards may vary with the size of the screen upon which the wrap is displayed.
  • the various size parameters may be relative rather than absolute (e.g., 10%, etc.)
  • the dimensions and location of the internal frame can be defined in other manners.
  • the widget may also have associated attributes 86 (e.g., styles, behaviors, etc.).
  • the nature of the parameters 130 that are included in any particular widget descriptor will vary widely with the nature of the widget itself and the information that the widget developer deems important to the widget content server. If the widget content is static and the frame size is known to the server, there may be no need to include any parameters in the widget descriptor. However, it is expected that more often, it will be desirable to provide some additional types of information to the server as part of the content request.
  • the parameters might include one or more parameters that indicate the originating source of a request such as the associated wrap, card or widget component identifier(s); a user or system ID; the geographic location of the user, etc.
  • Other parameters might be variables that provide information about the user (e.g.
  • a cookie associated with the wrap may be available from a variety of different sources, as for example: (i) a cookie associated with the wrap; (ii) the runtime viewer; (iii) a wrap state descriptor associated with the wrap and user; etc.
  • Still other parameters may convey information that is particularly relevant to the widget.
  • a Pinterest widget may identify specific pins, hosts, boards or tags of interest for the particular Pinterest card;
  • a shopping cart widget may convey information identifying the user's identity, account number, shipping/billing address, items selected for purchase, credit card information, etc. It should be appreciated that these are just examples and that the parameters may be configured to provide whatever information is relevant to the specific widget.
  • the widget definition includes a unique widget ID 121 that is distinct from the component ID 88W.
  • the widget ID is optional, but can be useful to identify a widget class or object that is used to create the component. This is particularly useful from an object oriented programming and tracking standpoint in that a particular class/object may be utilized in multiple different widgets and the use of a widget ID allows the base class to be explicitly identified within the widget descriptor.
  • a Twitter widget can be configured to render a Twitter feed and facilitate Twitter services
  • a chat widget can be configured to provide a chat service
  • a countdown widget can be configured to provide a timer-like functionality
  • a live sports score widget can be configured to display sports scores in real time
  • a receipt widget can be configured to interact with a company's backend financial systems to provide purchase receipts
  • a purchase transaction widget can be configured to facilitate purchase transactions
  • cul-de-sacs can be implemented using a cul-de-sac widget
  • a stock widget can be configured to display stock prices and/or support trades etc.
  • the specific parameters that may be useful for each of these widgets may vary dramatically with both the widget's purpose and its particular implementation.
  • a representative JSON card descriptor 46 that includes a widget descriptor 118 is provided in Appendix IV of incorporated U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/325,373.
  • the corresponding card 716 is shown in Fig. 26.
  • the widget in the illustrated card is a Date Countdown widget. That is, it provides a counter 791 arranged to show the time remaining until a specified date/time.
  • the specified event is the Dreamforce conference and the countdown counter 791 is arranged to display the time remaining until the conference begins.
  • some of the components in Appendix IV are labeled with reference numbers corresponding to the Figures.
  • the widget descriptor 118 illustrated in the Appendix IV begins at page 6 of the Appendix and includes a component type 89W (i.e. type widget), a component Id 88W, a component name 84 (i.e., "widget”) and a number of attributes 86 (labeled "styles" in the Appendix IV).
  • the widget definition 120 appears on page 8 of the Appendix IV.
  • the widget definition includes a widget ID 121 ; a widget name 122 (i.e., Date Countdown); a definition (schema) 124 that includes the frame width 127, frame height 128, source identifier (i.e., iframeUrl:) 126 and a set of three parameters 130.
  • the illustrated parameters include the end date 131 (i.e., the date/time that is being counted down to), an optional message 132 and a time zone 133.
  • the time zone 133 indicates the time zone associated with the end date/time.
  • the message 132 is other information to be transmitted to the wedge server. These parameters are used by the widget server to help determine the specific content to be loaded into the iframe reserved for the widget in card 716.
  • a representative, nonexclusive, widget descriptor suitable for presenting a Pinterest pin may have the following structure:
  • Widget (89W) Component ID: ⁇ UUID> (88W)
  • PinID ⁇ pin #1>
  • component is of type widget (89W), and has a universally unique component identifier (88W). Any desired component level styles or other attributes are associated with the component through component attributes 86W.
  • the widget includes a universally unique widget identifier 121 and a name (Pinterest widget) 122.
  • the widget definition 124 includes the source 126 from which the contents associated with the widget are to be obtained from - specifically, the URL https://pinterest.com/wrap_widget_server/ and the parameters 130 to be sent to the widget server.
  • the only parameters specifically shown are the Pin Ids of interest.
  • the Pin Ids are used by the widget server to identify the particular Pinterest pin(s) to be transmitted to the wrap. In the illustrated example, two pins are shown although it should be appreciated that any number of pins and/or other relevant parameters may be included.
  • a different descriptor is delivered in response to the same wrap request (e.g., by clicking on the same cover).
  • such an approach is often disfavored and it doesn't solve the problem with respect to copies of the wrap descriptor stored at away from the wrap server.
  • Another approach is to utilize a widget in the "specials" card.
  • an iframe is created within the specials card and the contents for the card may be delivered directly to the card at runtime by the merchant's server (e.g., a web server).
  • the desired content of the specials card can be updated by the merchant at any time simply by updating servers it controls, and such updates are immediately applied to any wrap that is instantiated after the update is made without requiring the generation or use of a new descriptor.
  • the widget in a "specials" card can be configured as a gallery (i.e., a gallery widget) so that the resulting card has an appearance that is similar to a gallery card.
  • Gallery widgets can also be used to present frequently updated items like catalog items so that it is not necessary to update the wrap each time items are added or deleted (e.g., each time an item is added to or deleted from the catalog).
  • FIG. 8A-8H a widget based approach for in-wrap transaction handling will be described.
  • the illustrated example is a shopping purchase transaction.
  • card layouts and functionalities are shown and described, it should be appreciated that these features are merely illustrative of a very specific example and that virtually any desired card based functionality and presentation could be provided in their place.
  • Figure 8 A reproduces the first page of gallery card 316 as shown in Fig. 7F.
  • trigger 340 is arranged to link the user to another card 321 within the wrap (e.g., wrap 310) rather than to an external web page. Therefore, when the user presses the "Buy Now" button 327 on card 316 (or any other portion associated with trigger 340), the wrap transitions to an associated shopping card 321 as illustrated in Fig. 8B, which facilitates the beginning of the purchase process.
  • the card descriptor associated with the shopping card 321 includes a widget descriptor 118 that indicates that the internal frame occupies the entire card.
  • the widget descriptor also identifies the source 126 for the card content - in this case a transaction server.
  • the entire content of card 321 is dictated by the transaction server.
  • the card may contain links which can then provide new information to be rendered in the internal frame.
  • the content of shopping card 321 contains product information 403, a quantity selector 405, and Add to Cart button 407, a Proceed to Checkout 409 button, a navigational link 411 for continued shopping and a cart icon 413.
  • the product information 403 provides some information about the selected product and may take any suitable form. In the illustrated embodiment, an image and textual description is provided.
  • the quantity selector 405 allows the user to select the number of units of the displayed product that the user would like to purchase.
  • User selection of the Add to Cart 407 button adds the selected item (including the quantity purchased) to a list of purchased items which is graphically indicated to the user by incrementing the number shown in the cart icon 413. This change in cart icon state can be seen by comparing Figs.
  • Fig. 8B which shows the cart icon prior to adding an item to the card
  • Fig. 8C which shows the cart after adding an item.
  • Any changes in the card's state such as updating the quantity 405 and/or the cart 413, would typically be sent back to the transaction server using appropriate APIs, although in other embodiments, such changes can be stored locally in association with the wrap until the purchase process is completed.
  • Navigational link 411 includes the text "Continue Shopping". When selected, the navigational link 411 returns the user to the card 316 from which they began or some other card within the wrap.
  • the user selects the "Proceed to Checkout" button 409.
  • the transaction can then be completed in a number of ways.
  • selection of Proceed to Checkout triggers a Cul-de-sac to a website at which the transaction is completed (e.g., to the vendor's website or other suitable location). This allows the vendor to make use of their existing purchase transaction infrastructure.
  • a representative but nonexclusive widget based approach is described below with reference to Figs. 8D to 8H.
  • Order Summary frame 322 summarizes the items in the shopping cart and provides mechanisms by which the user can enter additional information relevant to the purchase (e.g. a Promo Code), cancel the transaction, or return to shopping by selecting button 411.
  • the Billing Information 323 provides text entry boxes for inputting the buyer's billing information. In various embodiments, the information can be entered manually or automatically using an auto-fill function as is well known in the art.
  • the user billing information is entered, the user may continue to the - Shipping Information frame 324 seen in Fig. 8F by selecting the "next" icon 417.
  • stored user information can be auto-filled into the various frames. It can be imagined that the desired frame sequences may vary significantly based on both the current state of a particular frame and what persistently stored user information is available to the wrap.
  • Some information such as general information about the user, may be shared state information that is relevant to a number of different wraps.
  • Other state information may be specific to a particular wrap (e.g., a particular user selection or input within a wrap, etc.).
  • Still other relevant state information can be more global state information that is relevant to all instances of a particular wrap independent of the specific user.
  • State information can be stored in a number of ways and the appropriate storage techniques will vary in part based on the nature of the state information.
  • general information about a user and other user specific shared state data can be maintained in a cookie, or when the user has a persistent viewer application, the user state information can be persistently stored locally in association with the viewer application.
  • any or all of the shared state information can also be stored on the server side.
  • the shared state information may be useful to support a wide variety of different services including: user login and/or authentication; e-commerce applications where the identity, contact info, mailing address, credit card information etc. of the user may be necessary; integration with other applications (e.g. a calendar application, a chat application, etc.); and many other services.
  • User specific shared state information can also be used to affect the navigation within a wrap. For example, user demographic information can be used to determine which card to display next in a set of cards.
  • a state descriptor 68 is created and used to maintain state information associated with a particular wrap as illustrated in Fig. 5B.
  • the state descriptor 68 is associated with both a specific wrap and a specific user and thus can be used to store state information relevant to that specific user's interaction with the wrap.
  • the state descriptor 68 may be stored with the wrap on the publication server 22.
  • the state information can additionally or alternatively be stored locally in association with the viewer application either in the state descriptor form or in other suitable forms.
  • a state descriptor 68 will include a wrap ID 42 and a user ID that identify the wrap and user that the descriptor is associated with respectively.
  • the state descriptor 68 also stores the relevant state information in association with the card and component IDs for which the state information applies.
  • FIG. 8A-8H a card based approach for in-wrap transaction handling will be described.
  • the illustrated example is a shopping purchase transaction.
  • FIG. 8A-8H a card based approach for in-wrap transaction handling.
  • the illustrated example is a shopping purchase transaction.
  • FIG. 8A-8H a card based approach for in-wrap transaction handling.
  • the illustrated example is a shopping purchase transaction.
  • FIG. 8A-8H a card based approach for in-wrap transaction handling will be described.
  • the illustrated example is a shopping purchase transaction.
  • Figure 8A reproduces the first page of gallery card 316 as shown in Fig. 7F.
  • trigger 340 is arranged to link the user to another card 321 within the wrap (e.g., wrap 310) rather than to an external web page. Therefore, when the user presses the "Buy Now" button 327 on card 316 (or any other portion associated with trigger 340), the wrap transitions to an associated shopping card 321 as illustrated in Fig. 8B, which facilitates the beginning of the purchase process.
  • the shopping card 321 contains product information 403, a quantity selector 405, and Add to Cart button 407, a Proceed to Checkout 409 button, a navigational link 411 for continued shopping and a cart icon 413.
  • the product information 403 provides some information about the selected product and may take any suitable form. In the illustrated embodiment, an image and textual description is provided.
  • the quantity selector 405 allows the user to select the number of units of the displayed product that the user would like to purchase.
  • User selection of the Add to Cart 407 button adds the selected item (including the quantity purchased) to a list of purchased items which is graphically indicated to the user by incrementing the number shown in the cart icon 413.
  • Figs. 8B which shows the cart icon prior to adding an item to the card
  • Fig. 8C which shows the cart after adding an item.
  • the changes in the card's state would typically be stored locally in association with the wrap until the purchase process is completed, although in other embodiments, such changes can be immediately communicated to a vendor's shopping platform using appropriate APIs.
  • Navigational link 411 is a trigger that includes the text "Continue Shopping". When selected, the navigational link 411 returns the user to the card 316 from which they began or some other card within the wrap.
  • Selection of "Proceed to Checkout” button 409 causes the wrap to transition to Order Summary Card 322 as shown in Fig. 8D.
  • a left swipe gesture from Shopping Card 321 will also cause the wrap to transition to Order Summary Card 322.
  • the Order Summary Card 322 summarizes the items in the shopping cart and provides mechanisms by which the user can enter additional information relevant to the purchase (e.g. a Promo Code), cancel the transaction, or return to shopping by selecting button 411.
  • the Billing Information card 323 provides text entry boxes for inputting the buyer's billing information.
  • the information can be entered manually or automatically using a auto- fill function as is well known in the art.
  • the user may transition to the next card - Shipping Information Card 324 seen in Fig. 8F by either swiping left or selecting the "next" icon 417.
  • Each of the user buttons 327, 407, 409, 417, 418, 419 as well as links 411 may be implemented as triggers.
  • the link associated with the triggers is simply the target card.
  • the trigger can initiate the desired action(s) and also link to a target card if appropriate.
  • a left swipe on Receipt Confirmation Card 326 may be arranged to return the user to the card from which the purchase sequence began - i.e., Gallery Card 316 (Fig. 8 A) or some other location within the receipt deemed appropriate by the wrap author. It may be desirable for a right swipe on Receipt Confirmation Card 326 to cause a transition back to the Purchase Summary Card 325 but to have the state of the Purchase Summary Card 325 changed to provide an "Order Submitted" message in place of Complete Order button 419.
  • the desired behavior of Purchase Summary Card 325 may be more complex. For example, when the Purchase Summary Card 325 is in the state shown in Fig. 8G (i.e., the purchase order has not yet been committed), it may be desirable to have a right swipe transition the wrap back to Shipping Information Card 324 and to disable a left swipe since the author may not want to commit a purchase transaction without an affirmative selection of the "Complete Order" button by the user. Conversely, when the Purchase Summary Card 325 is in the "Order Submitted" state (not shown), it may be desirable to allow the user to left swipe back to the Receipt Confirmation Card 326, whereas a right swipe might transition the wrap back to the Gallery Card 316 (Fig.
  • the desired behavior can readily be defined using the behavior definitions described above. Importantly, the behavior definitions can also take the current state of the cards into the account in determining the card transition logic. It should be apparent that any of the described cards can be arranged to interact with vendor e-commerce websites (e.g., Shopify APIs, Stripe or Stripe Relay APIs), back-end e-commerce systems, platforms and the like.
  • vendor e-commerce websites e.g., Shopify APIs, Stripe or Stripe Relay APIs
  • back-end e-commerce systems platforms and the like.
  • Figs 8A-8H the purchase of a product is accomplished through a series of sequential cards designed to illicit from the viewer the information necessary to complete the electronic transaction.
  • the content of these cards can also be implemented in one or more gallery cards. In such embodiments, the viewer would be required to scroll up and down the gallery card(s) and enter the appropriate information in the displayed data entry fields.
  • Order Summary Card 322 and Purchase Summary Card 325 are described as separate cards. It should be appreciated that the functionality of these two cards could be implemented as a single card shown in two different states, with the Order Summary state (e.g., the state shown in Fig. 8D) being shown when purchaser information is still missing and the Purchase Summary state (e.g., the state shown in Fig. 8G) being shown when all needed purchaser information is present.
  • Order Summary state e.g., the state shown in Fig. 8D
  • Purchase Summary state e.g., the state shown in Fig. 8G
  • a potential advantage of using an installed or native wrap package application based viewer is that user information can be securely stored within the viewer and, if desired, automatically associated with the order as appropriate, thereby potentially eliminating the need to render the Billing and Shipping Information Card 323, 324.
  • the stored user information can be auto- filled into the various cards. It can be imagined that the desired card sequences may vary significantly based on both the current state of a particular card and what persistently stored user information is available to the wrap.
  • the ability to simply select/declare a desired behavior from a palette of predefined card behaviors give card authors (and template designers) a powerful tool for providing complex card behaviors without requiring the authors to learn or understand the intricacies of card navigation programming. Rather, system designers can define a number of card behaviors that are believed to be useful, and any of those predefined behaviors can be used by the template designers and card authors. If new card behaviors are desired, they can readily be written and added to the card behavior definitions 60.
  • wrap descriptor 40 There are a number of items associated with defining and rendering a wrap package. These include the wrap descriptor 40, the wrap runtime viewer 50, the referenced assets 65, and when appropriate, the behavior extensions 62 and/or state descriptor 68. On the wrap server side, these items may be stored in any arrangement that is deemed appropriate for securely delivering the various items in an efficient manner.
  • the various wrap items may be thought of as being stored separately from one another as illustrated in Fig. 9A.
  • these may include one or more of each of: a wrap package descriptor store that stores wrap descriptors 40; a wrap viewer store that stores the runtime viewer(s) 50; a state descriptor store that stores the state descriptors 68, an extensions store that stores extensions 62; and an assets store that stores assets 65.
  • the assets 65 used to populate wrap packages 10 may be obtained from any available source and there is no requirement that all of the assets be contained or included in a single store.
  • the wrap distribution environment as depicted in Fig. 9A may be configured as a Content Delivery Network (CDN), meaning that servers and stores are deployed at different data centers across the Internet.
  • CDN Content Delivery Network
  • the wrap distribution environment is preferably optimized to serve various wrap packages to a large numbers of users with minimal delays.
  • wrap descriptor 40 In the wrap descriptor framework described above, much of the actual content of the cards (e.g., assets 65) is maintained outside of the wrap descriptor 40. That is, many, most or all of the wrap package's assets are referenced within the wrap descriptor 40 rather than being stored within the descriptor 40. Thus, the wrap descriptor 40 can be quite small even for large wraps that are rich in media content. As a result, the wrap package (i.e., the wrap descriptor 40) can be quickly downloaded while still providing the viewer with a full description of the entire wrap structure. This separation of assets from the descriptor helps make wrap packages highly portable.
  • assets 65 e.g., assets 65
  • An asset 65 referenced by a card 14 of a wrap 10 assets can be downloaded to the consuming device 12 using any desired scheme.
  • the assets 65 associated with any particular card 14 can be downloaded on an "as needed" basis, only when the card is to be displayed or is expected to soon be displayed.
  • various caching schemes can be use, whereby the assets associated with nearby cards are downloaded while a given card is displayed.
  • the downloading of some, or all, of the wrap package assets is begun shortly after the wrap descriptor is received and, when necessary, other assets are downloaded on an as needed or other appropriate basis.
  • the environment includes one or more of each of wrap descriptor server/store 140, runtime viewer server/store 150 and asset stores 165.
  • a browser 151 or runtime viewer app running on a communication device 12 communicates with the server/stores through an appropriate network (e.g., the Internet), which is preferably configured as a content delivery network CDN.
  • the runtime viewer server/store 150 is arranged to store and deliver the runtime viewer 50, a store 162 of extensions 62 and/or a shim 400 (described later) upon request. That is, requests for the runtime viewer 50, extensions 62 and shim 400 are directed towards and fulfilled by the runtime viewer server/store in the illustrated embodiment.
  • the wrap descriptor server/store 140 is arranged to store and deliver upon request the wrap descriptors 40, state descriptors 68 and any other personalization information 69 relevant to a particular user. Thus, requests for specific wrap descriptors 40, state descriptors 68 and any other personalization information 69 are directed towards and fulfilled by the wrap descriptor server/store 140.
  • the state descriptor store(s) 168 and personalization store(s) 169 may be contained within the wrap descriptor server/store 140. When desired, multiple different wrap descriptors server/stores 140 may be used and/or the state descriptors 68 and/or personalization information 69 can be stored and delivered from other locations.
  • the assets 65 may be stored at a wide variety of different locations as diagrammatically represented by asset stores 165.
  • Wrap authoring tools 35, management tools 37 etc. can also communicate with wrap descriptor server/store 140 and asset stores 165 as appropriate.
  • the authoring tools may access existing wrap descriptors 40 to facilitate new wrap creation, wrap mixing and/or wrap editing (when permitted).
  • the authoring tools would also access the wrap descriptor server/store 140 to upload new wrap descriptors, etc.
  • assets stores 65 may be accessed and/or added to as part of the wrap creation process.
  • various management tools 37 may be arranged to communicate with the various stores to facilitate any desired management, tracking and other functionality.
  • a server e.g., publication server node 22 or runtime viewer server/store 150
  • a server initially receives a request for a particular wrap package 10 (step 190).
  • the wrap ID 42 is a URL
  • the request can be invoked at a requesting device 12 simply by activating (e.g., clicking on or otherwise selecting) a link that contains or otherwise defines the URL.
  • the wrap 10 can be accessed from virtually any platform capable of accessing a web link.
  • a cover that represents the wrap may include the wrap ID URL and thus the request can be invoked by simply clicking on a cover which may be embedded in a web page or an ad served in conjunction with a web page, embedded in a messages, such as an email, a text or SMS message, embedded in a Twitter tweet, or may be included with any other delivery mechanism that supports the embedding of a link.
  • the server When the server receives the request it identifies and fetches the desired wrap package 10 based on the wrap ID 42, contained in the target URL (step 192).
  • the server also determines the run-time environment on the requesting device (step 194). This can be accomplished using standard bootstrap queries to the requesting device 12.
  • the determination of the run-time environment will typically include an identification of the type or class of the requesting device 12 and viewing software, such as the operating system of the device 12 and/or a particular browser that the device 12 may be using.
  • the determination would typically ascertain the particular model of the requesting device (e.g., an Apple iPhone 6 Plus, a Samsung Galaxy S4, or other particular smart phone, tablet, laptop computer, desktop computer, smart watch, etc.) and the version of the software (e.g., browser or app) that is making the request, etc., and whether or not the requesting device has an installed wrap viewer or not.
  • the server can also ask the requesting device for any additional information considered useful.
  • the delivered wrap package 10 is opened and consumed by the user on the device 12 via either a browser operating in cooperation with a wrap viewer 50 or the wrap package app. In either case, the layout of the cards 14 is customized for display on the screen of the requesting device 12. Once opened, the user can view, experience and interact with the wrap package 10 as intended by the author.
  • the presentation tools 55 are responsible for rendering the wrap 10 in a format suitable for the requesting device.
  • all of the content of the card(s) 14 is preferably arranged to fit on the display screen without the user needing to manually size the screen or scroll through the card, unless the card is specifically designed for scrolling such as may be the case with a gallery type card. This can be done because the presentation tool 55 knows the screen dimensions for the rendering device 12 and selects the presentation that is optimized for the particular display on the requesting device 12.
  • the browser based versions of the run-time wrap viewer 50 may be written in a widely accepted format that can be executed by general purpose browsers operating on most any device.
  • JavaScript currently works well for this purpose, although other frameworks may be used as well.
  • the viewer 50 is a general purpose viewer that includes many, most, or all of the viewer tools and behavior definitions 60 that are available in the wrap ecosystem so that virtually any wrap can be viewed and all of its featured implemented using the accompanying viewer.
  • wrap viewers It is anticipated that as the popularity of wrap packages increases, more users will install wrap viewers on their devices in the form of mobile apps, applications, browser plug-ins, etc., which is expected to reduce the proportion of wrap requests that require run-time delivery of a browser based viewer.
  • FIG. 11 an alternative, browser based process for requesting, delivering and rendering wrap packages will be described.
  • This embodiment is well suited for use with the multi-tier wrap engine architecture of Fig. 9B.
  • the runtime instance of the wrap package is constructed locally at the requesting device based on the wrap descriptor at runtime.
  • Such an approach may have several potential efficiency related advantages over the process described with respect to Fig. 10 including supporting simpler wrap caching strategies.
  • a browser 151 on a requesting device 12 requests a particular wrap package 10 using the wrap ID 42.
  • the wrap ID 42 is a URL
  • the request can be invoked at a requesting device 12 simply by activating (e.g., clicking on or otherwise selecting) a link that contains or otherwise defines the URL.
  • the wrap 10 can be accessed from virtually any platform capable of accessing a link.
  • this request is directed to the runtime viewer server/store 150, although in other embodiments, the same function can be performed by wrap server node 22.
  • the runtime viewer server/store 150 (wrap server node) receives the request, it returns a generic HTML shim 400 to the requesting device 12 (step 204) rather than directly returning the requested wrap at this stage.
  • the shim opens into a page (e.g., a blank browser webpage) that will be populated with the wrap and includes scripts suitable for initiating the process of accessing and rendering the requested wrap package 10.
  • Fig. 13 illustrates a nonexclusive embodiment of a shim 400 suitable for use for this purpose.
  • the primary function of the illustrated shim 400 is to provide a mechanism for calling the runtime viewer 50. This is accomplished by script tag 1402 in the illustrated embodiment.
  • the shim 400 ensures that the requesting device has, or obtains a runtime viewer suitable for handling the wrap before the wrap is actually delivered.
  • the shim is implemented in HTML code that is delivered to a browser in step 204 in response to a wrap request 202.
  • the shim 400 is a highly compact. It includes a script tag 1402, a default page title 1403, a style sheet 1405 that defines the initial layout of the page that will hold the wrap, an icon image 1407, and a div 1409.
  • the script tag 1402 is primarily responsible for requesting the runtime viewer 50.
  • the default page title 1403 is the label that is typically displayed in the browser tab associated with the blank window page that the wrap is opened into (the page title 1403 is simply "wrap" in the illustrated embodiment).
  • the style sheet 1405 defines the layout of the page that is initially displayed, which is essentially blank at the initial stage.
  • CSS is used to define the page layout, although any other layout definition that can be interpreted by the browser can be used.
  • the icon image 1407 is an image that some browsers display in the browser tab adjacent the title.
  • the div 1409 causes the browser to allow the runtime viewer to rewrite the DOM for the page starting from that defined div node.
  • the browser that receives the shim 400 will typically handle the runtime viewer request by first checking to see whether an appropriate runtime viewer 50 is already present on the device (step 206). If so, the runtime viewer 50 is launched in step 212. If a suitable runtime viewer is not already present on the requesting device, a suitable viewer is requested and delivered to the requesting device (steps 208/210) and launched by the browser (step 212). In the embodiment of Fig. 9B, the runtime viewer request is also directed to runtime viewer server/store 150.
  • the downloaded runtime viewer may be written in a format that can be executed by most browsers so that the same generic runtime viewer may be used to view any wrap on virtually any computing device that contains a general purpose browser.
  • JavaScript is a dynamic programming language that is currently well supported by most browsers, and is therefore, well suited for use in the runtime viewer.
  • other now existing of later developed programming languages and frameworks may be used in other embodiments.
  • the runtime viewer 50 launches, it requests the wrap based on the wrap ID 42 used in the initial request.
  • the request may take the form of WRAPI.WRAP.CO/WRAP/ ⁇ WrapID>, where ⁇ WrapID> is the wrap ID 42.
  • the browser or viewer will typically check to see whether the wrap descriptor 40 corresponding to the wrap ID 42 is available locally (step 213). If not, the wrap descriptor 40 is requested from and returned by the wrap descriptor store 140, as represented by steps 214, 216.
  • the initial wrap request comes from an executing runtime viewer (as for example from a native viewer app)
  • the initial wrap request 202 would initially check for the requested wrap descriptor locally (step 213) and proceed from there.
  • wrap descriptor 40 is received, it is processed by the runtime viewer 50 resulting in the construction and rendering of the wrap in the browser page associated with shim 400.
  • Some of the steps performed or caused by the runtime viewer 50 as it processes the wrap descriptor 40 are schematically represented as elements 218 - 234 in the flow chart of Fig. 11. Although a particular flow is illustrated, it should be appreciated that the described steps are functional in nature and are not necessarily performed in the illustrated order.
  • the runtime viewer 50 determines whether the wrap package 10 has an associated state descriptor 68 (step 218). As discussed above, it is contemplated that many wrap packages will not have an associated state descriptor while others will. A number of mechanisms can be used to indicate the intended/expected presence of a state descriptor 68.
  • the wrap descriptor 42 includes a state descriptor flag (not shown) that indicates whether a state descriptor 68 is intended to be associated with the wrap. In such embodiments, the runtime viewer 50 determines whether to request the state descriptor 68 based on the status of the state descriptor flag.
  • wraps 10 that require state descriptors 68 may be arranged to simple declare the existence of an associated state descriptor and the runtime viewer may be arranged to request the appropriate state descriptor. If a state descriptor 68 is intended, it is requested and received as diagrammatic ally represented by step 220. In the embodiment of Fig. 9B, any state descriptor requests are directed to wrap descriptor server/store 140, although they may be directed to wrap server 22 or other suitable stores in other embodiments. Typically, the browser or runtime viewer would first check to see if the state descriptor is cached or stored locally before sending a request to the server.
  • Another step performed by the runtime viewer 50 is determining if the wrap 10 has any associated behavior extensions 68.
  • the wrap 10 may have a number of associated behaviors.
  • the runtime viewer 50 may internally support many, most or all such behaviors. However, to help keep the runtime viewer 50 relatively compact while supporting a wide variety of functionality, the runtime viewer 50 is configured to support additional extensions 62 that may be utilized to define additional behaviors.
  • the runtime viewer 50 determines whether any extensions 62 are needed to properly render the current wrap (step 228). If yes, the needed extensions are requested and retrieved (step 226). There are a number of mechanisms that can be used to trigger the extension request(s).
  • the wrap descriptor 40 may be arranged to identify the needed extensions 62 such that they can be retrieved as a group early in the wrap rendering process.
  • the extensions 62 may be retrieved on an as needed basis as the descriptor 42 is processed or in any other suitable manner.
  • the required extensions 62 (which may be written in JavaScript or other suitable form) may be included as part of the descriptor 42 itself - as for example, in a block after the card descriptors or at the end of the descriptor. In such circumstances there would be no need to separately request the extensions.
  • the runtime viewer 50 generates the HTML for the requesting device 12 in step 228. In the embodiment of Fig. 9B, any extension requests are directed to the runtime viewer server/store 150.
  • the runtime viewer is arranged to process the wrap descriptor 40 in a manner that generates the HTML appropriate for rendering the wrap on the requesting device (Step 228). This processing is described in more detail below with respect to Fig. 12.
  • the assets 65 associated with the various cards 14 associated with the wrap 10 are retrieved in step 230.
  • the assets 65 associated with a particular card will be retrieved as their associated card descriptors are processed during the wrap descriptor processing.
  • the actual timing of the asset requests may be widely varied. For example, in some circumstances it may be desirable to only download certain assets 65 when the associated card is displayed or just prior to the card being displayed, in accordance within some predetermined caching strategy.
  • the runtime viewer 50 determines the timing of the asset requests, while in other embodiments, such decisions may be delegated to the browser.
  • the assets may be stored at a variety of different locations as diagrammatically illustrated as asset stores 165 in the embodiment of Fig. 9B.
  • the wrap descriptor is processed, the wrap is rendered on the requesting device by populating the tab or page opened by shim (step 234).
  • the initial wrap request may come from a runtime viewer that is already open and executing. In such circumstances it may be desirable for the runtime viewer to directly request any needed wrap descriptors from the wrap descriptor storage server (e.g. wrap descriptor store 1040). Such a process would effectively skip described steps 202 - 212.
  • the wrap descriptor storage server e.g. wrap descriptor store 1040
  • Wrap packages are each a discrete, platform-independent data structure containing all the information needed for a wrap runtime engine 50 to render the wrap and facilitate its interaction and behaviors.
  • a non-exclusive implementation of the wrap runtime is in the JavaScript programming language for execution within a conventional web browser using HTML and CSS, the wrap runtime could also be implemented using other languages and technologies specific to different operating systems and devices. Since the runtime engine 50 renders the wrap at the time of consumption, it can optimize the rendering and interface for the device it is running on as well as dynamically generate content based on context.
  • the runtime viewer 50 generates an object graph based on the descriptor 40.
  • the object graph serves as the state model for the wrap.
  • the wrap descriptor 40 uses the JSON data format.
  • the object graph is arranged to represent the structure of the wrap document in a manner that: (1) is simpler to transform for presentation; and (2) that makes the behaviors and styling information readily available for the runtime to apply as needed.
  • the object graph can be created using a variety of techniques.
  • JSON objects as the wrap descriptors makes runtime generation of the object graph a relatively simple and straightforward task.
  • the JSON object is transformed into JavaScript objects automatically by the runtime. Then straight- forward transformations take place to transform the on-disk representation into a runtime object graph from which it is easier to render the desired views and attach the desired behaviors.
  • the runtime viewer creates a document object model (DOM) based on the object graph (step 253).
  • the DOM corresponds to the view, and as will be appreciated by those familiar with the art, the DOM is a standard representation that may be used directly by the browser to render the wrap in a conventional manner (step 255). That is, the DOM is an internal representation that can be directly used by the browser to render the wrap.
  • the step of generating a DOM would typically not be performed. Instead, the runtime instance will typically be generated or derived from the object graph.
  • the runtime viewer associates the appropriate handlers and navigation tools based on the current model state (step 258). That is, if the first card is displayed, the viewer will associate the event handlers and navigation tools with the wrap that are appropriate for the first card. These include the handlers associated with triggers as previously discussed.
  • an event dispatcher determines whether there is an active handler that matches the event (step 262). If so, the event is delegated to the matching handler (step 264), which determines whether the event is valid (step 265). If valid, the handler acts on the event (step 266) and updates the display status of the model (i.e., the handler updates the state of the object graph model). In step 268, the view state is then updated as needed based on the new model state. Any time the view state changes, the active handlers are updated as necessary based on the new (i.e., then current) model state (step 269). Thereafter, control is returned back to step 258 and the above process is repeated if a new event is received in step 260.
  • the only permitted navigational behavior for card 311 may be a left swipe gesture, which is arranged to flip the displayed card to the second card 312 shown in Fig. 7B.
  • the only valid navigational handler associated with the wrap in step 258 would be a left swipe handler arranged to cause the display status of the model to change to the next card 312 of Fig. 7B in response to a left swipe.
  • the only time the event dispatcher will find an active matching handler is when a left swipe event is detected.
  • the event dispatcher would delegate the event to the left swipe handler (step 264), which is validated in step 265 and acted upon in step 266 by updating the display status in of the model (i.e., making the next card active - in this case second card 312) - which in turn will cause the view state to update to the second card (step 268) and a new state model in step 269.
  • the navigation behaviors for the second card 312 are somewhat different than the navigation behaviors for the first card.
  • the left swipe handler remains the same (i.e., causing a transition to the next card) - however a right swipe is now relevant and will cause a transition to the previous card (i.e., back to the first card 311).
  • a right swipe handler would be activated when the model state transitions to the second card.
  • a left swipe gesture made on the last card may invoke an animation that gives the appearance of the card beginning to flip, but then springing back, to graphically suggest that the displayed card is the last card.
  • a final card left swipe animation handler may be activated when the last card is displayed, whereas the left swipe page transition handler would be deactivated.
  • navigational behaviors can be applied to the first and last cards in a horizontal sequence of a wrap and/or the top and bottom gallery items of a gallery card to implement a carousel-like user experience. For example, when the last card in a horizontal sequence of a wrap is displayed, a left swipe gesture will result in a return to the first card of the wrap. Alternatively, when the first card in the horizontal sequence is displayed, a right swipe gesture will result in a transition to the last card in the horizontal sequence.
  • a similar carousel effect can be created through navigational behaviors applied in the vertical direction when up/down swipes are applied to the top and bottom gallery items of the gallery card respectively.
  • the handlers associated with triggers are also particularly important to the wrap environment. For example, selection of a trigger component (e.g., by tapping at any location on a screen within the bounds of a displayed trigger component) may activate the trigger.
  • selection of a trigger component e.g., by tapping at any location on a screen within the bounds of a displayed trigger component
  • the events will be user initiated events such as selection or tapping of a trigger through the performance of a selection gesture or based on some other user input.
  • the activating step may system generated (e.g. an elapsed time, a sensor input that exceeds a threshold, the receipt of a particular message or a very wide range of other potential events).
  • a trigger may exhibit any desired behavior which can be associated with the trigger through appropriate behavior declarations 95.
  • the trigger may initiate a navigational link to another card or wrap, or link to an external webpage once activated using a defined linking behavior (e.g., open in same tab, open in new tab, etc.)
  • a defined linking behavior e.g., open in same tab, open in new tab, etc.
  • Other triggers can have a wide variety of different associated behaviors to support almost any type of application functionality.
  • FIG. 14 illustrates a nonexclusive wrap component model suitable for use in the wrap environment.
  • the component types illustrated in the non-exclusive embodiment of Fig. 14 include containers 580, textbox 582, image 583, video 584, link 586, location 587, widget 588 and feed 589. Some of the component types may have subtypes that are handled in different ways. There may be a number of different container types that are handled differently by the runtime.
  • a container component is generally arranged to hold other components and different container types may be used for different purposes. For example, in the illustrated model, three specific container types are shown, specifically card 590, gallery 592 and gallery items 594.
  • the card container type 590 is the standard card container. As such, the "card” container type 590 has specific dimensions that will be set based on the size of the screen that the wrap (and thus the cards) is/are intended to be rendered on. In the primary described embodiments, standard cards are expected to be rendered in a portrait view that is fully visible on a screen such that scrolling is not necessary to see the entire content of the card. It is expected that in many mobile devices, the card will occupy the full screen (or substantially all of the screen) in a portrait orientation, whereas in devices with landscape or other non-portrait oriented display screens (e.g., most desktop displays, etc), the card would typically not occupy the entire display screen (e.g., desktop and laptop displays).
  • landscape or other non-portrait oriented display screens e.g., most desktop displays, etc
  • the runtime has rules that define the card size for any particular wrap instance based on the size and aspect ratio of the target screen.
  • one approach to automatically sizing a wrap is described in application Nos. 62/144,083 and 62/191,079 which are both incorporated herein by reference.
  • the card's aspect ratio (e.g., the ratio of card height to card width) will typically be maintained the same regardless of the screen size, however, that is not a requirement, and if desired, the runtime can also have rules relating to the card's aspect ratio.
  • Another container type is gallery 592.
  • a gallery is a special type of card that has the ability to scroll multiple frames beyond a single screen.
  • Galleries are composed of gallery items and thus another container type is the gallery item 594 which is a component of a gallery.
  • the runtime encounters a gallery item, it knows it belongs in an associated gallery.
  • a number of other component types relate to other specific types of content.
  • a textbox component type is arranged to hold text.
  • the text would be included in-line within the descriptor, although that is not a strict requirement.
  • An image component type is arranged to hold an image and/or photo.
  • the associated image/photo would be obtained by the runtime using a source identifier (e.g., URL) provided in the image component descriptor.
  • a source identifier e.g., URL
  • a video component type is arranged to display a video. Like an image, a video is typically obtained by the runtime using a source identifier (e.g., URL) provided in the video component descriptor.
  • a source identifier e.g., URL
  • the link component type 586 incorporates is a specialty component that is arranged to link to another location.
  • the link could be an internal link within the wrap, a link to another wrap, a link to a website or other designated location.
  • the location component 587 is also a specialty component that is arranged to provided GPS or other location functionality, such as maps, driving directions, etc.
  • the location component 587 can be implemented in a number of ways, such as by accessing and inter-operating with a location/GPS app (e.g., Google maps or a similar app) on the device consuming the wrap, by linking to a remote website or other designated location providing such services, or via a widget, as described herein.
  • a location/GPS app e.g., Google maps or a similar app
  • the widget component type 588 is used by widgets. As described above widgets are arranged to open an internal frame within the associated card. The content of the internal frame is not defined by the descriptor itself. Rather, the content is supplied by an external source identified in the widget descriptor. [00337]
  • the feed component type 590 is used to create feeds. In various embodiments, the feeds can be either static or dynamic.
  • the component model lends its self particularly well for representing wrap packages of cards.
  • One of several objectives of wraps, as discussed above, is that they are consumable on any browser-enabled device.
  • the presentation of wraps should remain the same, persevering the original intent or impression of the author, regardless of the type or class of consuming device.
  • the presentation of a given wrap will always be the same, regardless if consumed on a mobile phone having a screen with a portrait orientation, a tablet that can be rotated so the screen has either a portrait or landscape orientation, or in a laptop or desktop display screen where browser windows can be readily sized and/or resized.
  • a given card can be represented by a card component having a fixed aspect ratio.
  • content component containers each have a fixed relative position within the card.
  • the card component and each of the content component containers define the fixed aspect ratio, content and the layout for the associated card.
  • wraps are generally intended to be "mobile- first" web documents
  • the aspect ratio of non-gallery cards is intended, in nonexclusive embodiments, to substantially match the aspect ratio of the display screen of mobile phones.
  • any card aspect ratio can be used, regardless if it either matches or does not match a display size or orientation of a particular type or class of device, including any of the consuming devices 12A through 12G mentioned herein.
  • the aforementioned component model helps separate content from its presentation within a wrap descriptor.
  • attributes e.g., styles etc. - which may take the form of CSS
  • behaviors may be may be applied at any defined component level (e.g., the wrap, card, a component level, or even a subcomponent level, but not to individual elements (i.e., non-components) within or making up a given component.
  • a textbox component may include an extended string of text. Any special formatting desired for the component, such a holding, a certain font, or color, is associated with the entire component (i.e., the entire text string).
  • attributes may be associated with components at any desired level, including to the entire wrap (the wrap level), to an entire card (the card level), the component level or a sub-component level.
  • styles, attributes and/or behaviors can be applied at any defined component level, but only at those levels.
  • the card creation and rendering processes is significantly simplified, while still supporting the ability for authors to create visually compelling creative content.
  • JSON works particularly well with the described component based descriptor format.
  • descriptor representations including, but not limited to, XML may be used in other implementations.
  • JSON is still a particularly good format for representing packages of cards even when the wrap and/or card descriptors are not rigidly limited to the described component based attribute association format.
  • component type set is extensible so long as the runtime is configured to handle such components or has the ability to obtain the rules appropriate for handling such components when they are encountered.
  • Each card descriptor 46 may include data object(s) representative of one or more components 16 authored or otherwise associated with the corresponding card 14. Together, the one or more components 16 define the structure, content and/or functionality of the corresponding card 14. With this arrangement, individual cards 14 can each be imbued with functionality, content, style(s), attribute(s), trigger(s) and behavior(s) as intended by the author. In most of the examples provided above, the characteristics are card specific. However, when desired, component(s) can also be associated at the wrap level rather than the card level.
  • a component When applied at the wrap level, a component is herein referred to as a "global” component, meaning the component applies to either all or some designated subset (i.e., two or more) of the cards of the wrap.
  • the same functionality, content, style(s), attribute(s), trigger(s) and behavior(s) of global component(s) can be applied to be multiple cards 14 of a wrap 10, without requiring the same component(s) 16 to be authored into each card individually.
  • the wrap descriptor 40 includes wrap meta data 45 (e.g., wrap name, author, version, etc.), a plurality of card descriptors 46 for a collection of N cards 14 respectively, one or more global component descriptors 1802 for specifying a global component, and one or more card designator(s) 1803.
  • wrap meta data 45 e.g., wrap name, author, version, etc.
  • card descriptors 46 for a collection of N cards 14 respectively
  • one or more global component descriptors 1802 for specifying a global component
  • Each card designator 1803 designates the cards 14 of the wrap for which a corresponding global component descriptor 1802 will apply, in many situations, the default setting for a card designator 1803 will be inclusive of all the cards 14 of a wrap 10, meaning the corresponding global component defined by a descriptor 1802 will be associated with all of the cards 14 of the wrap 10.
  • the card designator 1803 may be selectively set to specify only a group or subset of the cards 14 (i.e. two or more), but not all of the cards 14. In this latter case, the global component designated by descriptor 1802 is associated with only those designated cards.
  • the default may be implicit such that if no card designator is explicitly provided, the global component is applied to all of the cards 14.
  • two global components descriptors 1802 are provided.
  • the first is a Media Widget.
  • the second is/are navigational behavior(s).
  • card designators 1803 are provided for each global component respectively.
  • the designator specifies either all or some subset of the cards of the wrap the corresponding global components applies.
  • the global component types discussed above with respect to Fig. 14 can be used as global components, although certain component types such as card 590, gallery 592, and gallery item 594 are generally not included as global components because they are typically card-specific.
  • the global component types may include, but are not limited to, containers 580, textbox 582, image/photo 583, video 584, link 586, location 587, widget 588 and feed 589.
  • any of the above- listed component type can be used as a global component, in practice global component(s) will often be text, an image, and/or a photo, since an author will most likely want to replicate this type of content within a plurality of cards 14 of a wrap 10.
  • the global component will appear at the same location, and will have the same style(s) and/or attribute(s), on each card 14, or designated subset of cards 14, of the wrap package.
  • an author of a wrap package 10 may wish to have text and/or a company logo appear at the same location on each card 14 of a wrap.
  • components may also be designated as global components, such as those used for implementing transactions (i.e., the purchase and/or reservation/booking of goods and/or services), online chats, GPS/location services, or any other app-like functionality that can be embedded or otherwise associated with a single card.
  • transactions i.e., the purchase and/or reservation/booking of goods and/or services
  • online chats i.e., the purchase and/or reservation/booking of goods and/or services
  • GPS/location services any other app-like functionality that can be embedded or otherwise associated with a single card.
  • any type of component that can be included in a single card can also be implemented as a global component.
  • attributes may be associated with the wrap as a whole rather than with a specific card or component.
  • a navigational behavior can be associated at the wrap level to provide the wrap with a specific or custom navigational behavior.
  • the global component designated by descriptors 1802 include a media widget and certain navigational behavior(s). These examples are provided for illustrative purposes. It should be understood that these specific global components are merely exemplary and in no way should be construed as limiting. In real- world embodiments, a wide variety of global components may be used as discussed above.
  • a global component media widget may be implemented in a number of different ways.
  • the media widget may be a media player capable of playing audio, music and/or video streamed from a server associated with a specified streaming service (e.g., Pandora, Spotify, a radio station, etc.).
  • the media widget may refer to and access a specific music, audio and/or video file, or a library of the same, such as an iTunes playlist, that may reside either on the same computing device 12 consuming the wrap or a remote location, such as a server.
  • the media widget enables the functionality of playing of music, audio and/or video content while all (or a designated group) of the cards 14 of the wrap 10 are rendered.
  • navigational behavior global components specify or imbue specified behavior(s) on all (or some designated subset) of the cards 14 of the wrap.
  • Fig. 29 shows a global media player widget 1808 appearing within all the cards 14 of a wrap package 10.
  • the media player 1808 includes a listing of the name of the artist and song that is playing, audio controls for playing, pausing, jumping forward and backward, volume control, etc.
  • the widget 1808 is global, the player will appear on all the cards 14 of the wrap 10 during consumption, regardless of the given card 14 that is currently rendered at any given point in time. As a result, the viewer will be able to play access to the media player and control the playback of media from any card 14 in the wrap.
  • Fig. 30 A shows a global audio widget 1810 appearing on all of the cards 14 of another wrap package.
  • the audio widget 1810 is an image of a speaker that appears on the lower right corner of each card 14.
  • the global audio widget 1810 in this example, is also imbued with a specific global navigational behavior that is invoked in response to a designated trigger.
  • a pop-up music playlist 1814 overlay appears on the currently displayed card 14, as shown in Fig. 24B. By selecting a particular song name, the corresponding track will play.
  • the pop-up overlay 804 may appear on all of the cards 14 as they are swipe navigated.
  • the pop-up overlay may appear only on the originating card 14 and will go away when a swipe to another card occurs. In the latter case, the viewer would be required to again swipe the audio widget 1810 on another card 14 for the overlay 1814 to again appear.
  • Fig. 31 illustrates another example of a wrap package 10 authored to include a global audio widget that plays audio during consumption, regardless of the given card 14 that is being displayed.
  • the wrap 10 pertains to a promotion for a Hawaiian vacation.
  • a related audio file e.g., "theme" music pertaining to the wrap, such as background Hawaiian music in this example
  • no visual audio player interface is provided as in the previous examples.
  • just the music is played to enhance the viewer experience while consuming the wrap. Since no audio player interface is provided in this example by design, the viewer has minimal control over the playback of the audio, which will play continuously when the wrap is being consumed.
  • the iframe associated with the widget would typically have no corresponding size and there would be no need to define a position.
  • the height, width and position fields of the widget descriptor can be null or eliminated from the corresponding descriptor.
  • Fig. 32 illustrates yet another example of a global behavior.
  • the global behavior is the automatic transition, as opposed user-swiping, between the cards 14 in the wrap 10.
  • the automatic transition from one card to the next in sequence order may occur at a fixed interval of time (e.g., every 2 or 3 seconds).
  • an event may cause the automatic transition.
  • one more card(s) 14 of the wrap 10 includes some text.
  • an audio file narrating the text on each card is played (In the particular card shown, the text regarding George Washington crossing the Delaware River is narrated). When the narration is complete, the transition to the next card is automatically performed.
  • This process is continually repeated until all the cards 14 in the wrap are consumed.
  • the timing between transitions may vary. For example, if it takes four seconds to narrate the text of one card and ten seconds for the next card, then the transitions will occur in four seconds and ten seconds respectively.
  • the resulting user experience is analogous to an audio book, with the added benefit of incorporating appropriate images, photos, video, embedded functionality, etc.
  • the various cards can include text that is narrated, as well as images, photos, video and/or animation illustrating the story. As the text of each card is narrated and completed, the transition to the next card automatically occurs. As a result, user experience is multi- sensory, providing a user experience previously not possible.
  • a wrap package authored as an audio book, can also be used to market products and/or services.
  • a children's book i.e., Winnie the Pooh
  • the Winnie the Pooh wrap can also include, for instance, a gallery card for items to be purchased (e.g., stuffed dolls of the main characters, such as Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, etc.) or other promotions such as gift certificates, coupons for Disney merchandise, vacation packages to a Disney resort, etc.
  • transaction functionality via a widget, cul-de-sacing, or built into the cards of the wrap itself, can be authored into the wrap.
  • wrap packages authored as audio books can provide a marketing and promotional channel previously not possible.
  • the specified source of the audio content for the widget may vary and may include, in alternative embodiments, a streaming music service or a library of music files for example. It should be understood, however, that these examples should in no way be construed as limiting.
  • the type of media and application functionality that can be incorporated into a global widget may widely vary and is limited only by the imagination of the author. Examples include, but are not limited to besides audio and music, video, images, photos, text, transactional widgets for the purchase or reservation/booking or goods or services, online chat widgets, GPS or location widgets, etc.
  • Components can also be associated with galleries to create gallery components in substantially the same way that they can be associated with the wrap to serve as global components. That is, a component can be associated with a gallery card 316 instead of being bound to a specific gallery item or being a global component that is associated with multiple cards. When a component is associated with a gallery card, the associated content can be displayed on the gallery card regardless of which gallery item frame is currently shown. As with other components, the specific content associated with a gallery is limited primarily by the imagination of the gallery's author.
  • an image component associated with the gallery card can be used to display the company logo in a corner of the gallery card so that the logo appears at the same location regardless of which gallery item is currently being viewed.
  • gallery item designators can be used to identify specific gallery items that the gallery component is to be associated with.
  • the gallery item designators work substantially the same was as card designators 1803. That is, the gallery item designator may selectively identify a specific subset of gallery items to which the corresponding gallery component will apply.
  • the default setting for a gallery designator may be that the gallery component applies to all of the gallery items in the gallery. The default may be implicit such that if no gallery item designator is explicitly provided, the gallery component is applied to all of the gallery items.
  • the content of a gallery level component can be a variable.
  • the content of the image component could be a variable "Company_Logo", which obtains the logo of the company whose product is highlighted in the corresponding gallery item.
  • the use of such variables tend to be particularly useful in applications in which the wraps are automatically generated as described in U.S. Application Numbers 14/816,935 (WRAPP022), 14/816,662 (WRAPP020C1) and 14/816,678 (WRAPP021C1), all incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
  • variables can be used in global components and/or ordinary components as well.
  • any component that can be embedded in or otherwise is associated with a card can also be a global component by associating the component at the wrap level rather than the card level.
  • Designator(s) 1803 further provide the ability to flexibly apply a global component to a subset of cards, but not necessarily all the cards, of a wrap.
  • any component can also be a "gallery" component by associating the component at the gallery level as opposed to the gallery item level.
  • Gallery designators also provide the ability to flexibly apply gallery components to two or more gallery items, but not necessarily all the gallery items of a gallery card.
  • Fig. 15 illustrates representative components of another specific, but nonexclusive embodiment of a runtime viewer 500 used in cooperation with a browser on a consuming client device.
  • the illustrated runtime viewer 500 includes deserializer 501, event handler 506, behavior engine 530, feed engine 540, identity manager 550, and state manager 560.
  • the deserializer 501 is arranged to transform any given wrap descriptor 40 into a runtime instance of the wrap defined by the descriptor. In essence, the deserializer steps through the wrap descriptor, generates the indicated cards and components, and binds the various attributes (e.g., styles, declared behaviors, etc.) and any referenced assets, feeds etc. with their associated components/cards, etc.
  • attributes e.g., styles, declared behaviors, etc.
  • the deserializer 501 is shown as functionally including an object graph building module (OG builder) 502 and a DOM building module (DOM builder) 504.
  • the object graph building module 502 is arranged to process a wrap descriptor 40 to create an object graph 510 that binds the various attributes (e.g., styles, declared behaviors, feeds, etc.), referenced assets and anything else declared or referenced in the descriptor with their associated components/cards, and serves as the runtime instance of the wrap.
  • the DOM building module 504 uses the object graph 510, to create a document object model (DOM) 520 that serves as a browser readable instance of the wrap.
  • DOM document object model
  • runtime viewer 500 is arranged to create a document object model based runtime instance, it is well suited for execution in a general purpose browser 151 - although that is not a requirement. In circumstances where a native runtime viewer is utilized, the viewer may be arranged to render the wrap based on the object graph 510 or based on an alternative final representation of the wrap suitable for the specific platform.
  • the actual structure of the object graph 510 may vary in accordance with the needs of a particular implementation. By way of example, in the non-exclusive embodiment of Fig.
  • the object graph 510 includes an ordered card list 512, a set of cards definitions 514 and an asset load state tree 515.
  • the card list 512 represents the sequential order of the cards and provides a simple mechanism for supporting linear navigation through the card set.
  • the card list may use a wide variety of different formats.
  • a doubly linked list works well in many applications. With this arrangement, other than the first and last cards in the wrap, each card is linked to the previous end next card in the list. Thus the linked list serves as a mechanism for readily identifying the previous and next cards in the wrap which can be used when navigating the wrap. That is, when a swipe is detected, the next or previous card is identified by the linked list for rendering as appropriate based on the swipe direction.
  • the first and last cards include only a single link to the next or preceding card respectively.
  • the card definition set 514 includes a card definition 517 for each card in the wrap.
  • Each card definition 517 includes all of the component objects of the card and associates all of the relevant characteristics (e.g., assets, styles, behaviors, other attributes, etc.) with the respective component objects and any dependent component objects. If a special item such as a feed descriptor is associated with the component, then the card definition 517 will also include the binding to the associated feed.
  • the user may navigate within and out of the purchase transaction card set in the same manner that other cards are navigated.
  • One way to facilitate such navigation is to provide a dependent card list 513 within the object graph 510 as illustrated in Fig. 16.
  • the base card (card N) has a pointer to dependent card list 513 that is activated by selection of the "Buy Now" button 327.
  • the last card in dependent card list 513 points back to the base card N (or to any other appropriate card as designated by the wrap designer).
  • the dependent card list 513 can be independent of the specific originating cards such that the same dependent card list can be accessed from multiple cards within card list 512.
  • such an approach may be desirable, when multiple cards have "Buy Now" buttons that are intended to access the same check out mechanism.
  • the pointers to the originating card may take the form of a variable in the dependent card list with the value of the variable being an identifier for the originating card.
  • the asset load state tree 515 is a data structure that identifies each asset that is referenced in the wrap descriptor and indicates whether the referenced asset has been loaded into the runtime.
  • the asset load state tree takes the form of a tree of semaphores. Each time an asset is loaded, the corresponding entry (e.g. semaphore) in the asset load state tree is changed from a "not loaded” state to a "loaded” state. In this way, the runtime can quickly determine whether any given asset is already present, or needs to be retrieved, when rendering a card.
  • the behavior engine 530 includes a library 531 of behavior definitions 60.
  • the behavior engine 530 is also arranged to obtain behaviors extensions 62 from one or more external stores as necessary.
  • the deserializer 501 encounters a behavior declaration while processing a wrap descriptor 40, the deserializer requests and receives the behavior definition corresponding to the declared behavior from the behavior engine 530.
  • a behavior definition Once a behavior definition has been retrieved, it can optionally be cached or stored persistently in the behavior definition library 531 so that it is available for future use.
  • the behavior extensions 62 may be arranged as individual behavior definitions or in bundles or packages of behaviors.
  • An advantage of bundling behaviors into packages is that a set of behaviors can be defined that are considered useful for particular functions (e.g., e-commerce functions; supporting reservations, supporting chat sessions, etc.) while keeping the base runtime size small. Then, card template designers can make use of any subset (or all) of the bundled behaviors when designing their templates. This allows the same bundle of behaviors to be used for a wide variety of different cards designed by different authors.
  • the wrap descriptor or any card descriptor can include an Extension Identifier (not shown) that identifies any behavior extension bundle(s) that is/are used in that particular wrap/card.
  • the deserializer 501 When the deserializer 501 comes to the Extension Identifier, it notifies the behavior engine 530 of the need for the identified extension package.
  • a Downloaded Extension Package List 533 may be maintained by the behavior engine 530 or other appropriate component to provide a readily accessible mechanism for determining whether a particular behavior extension package is already present within the runtime. If the behavior engine 530 does not already have the identified extension package, it requests the identified package form the Runtime Viewer Server, behavior extensions Store 162 or other suitable source.
  • the wrap descriptors 40 may include various types of presentation or styling information, in data structures that define how styles should be associated with the various content.
  • the deserializer 501 processes the wrap descriptor 40, it stores style information, in the form of CSS class references, and/or literal CSS fragments, in the associated nodes of the object graph 510.
  • wrap descriptors 40 may include complete style sheets, used to bind the CSS class references mentioned above to the intended presentational rules embodied in those style sheets. In embodiments that rely on external implementations of HTML and CSS Tenderers (e.g.
  • the binding of CSS classes to style sheets may be left to the external implementation to render the objects thus annotated.
  • a separate binding mechanism may be provided to conform the presentation to match the intended presentation rules embodied by the constellation of style sheets, CSS fragments, and CSS class references contained in the wrap descriptor 40.
  • the runtime itself provides baseline style sheets, used in the rendering of the core runtime user interface components. These style sheets may also be available to be referenced from CSS classes associated with individual nodes, as described above, to provide standard user interface treatments.
  • a standard set of extension style sheets may be provided for inclusion by reference.
  • certain extensions e.g. a chat or shopping cart extension
  • the deserializer 501 has rules for handling all of the different component types supported by the runtime's component model. Thus, as the deserializer steps through the wrap descriptor 40 it creates an object graph 510 that represents the wrap. Each item in the descriptor that is encountered is handled in accordance with the rules.
  • a representative, nonexclusive deserialization process is illustrated in, and described with reference to, Figs. 12A - 12C.
  • any initial metadata such as the wrap id 42, the wrap name/title 44 and any other relevant information 45 is associated with a new wrap instance as represented by step 802.
  • the deserializer 501 then gets the next item in the wrap descriptor (step 803).
  • cards e.g., card descriptors 46
  • global components e.g., global components
  • attributes e.g., styles, behaviors, etc.
  • a new card node (which is essentially a blank or empty card definition 517) is created in the object graph 510 and the new card is added to the card list 512 as represented by 806.
  • a corresponding "empty" new card is then created in the DOM (807).
  • the associated card descriptor is processed to populate the associated card as represented by flow chart step 808.
  • the deserializer effectively steps through the card descriptor to populate the card with all of the components, attributes and functionality of the card defined by the card descriptor as described in more detail below with reference to Fig. 12B.
  • a gallery card is simply a card that contains one or more gallery item components
  • a video card is a card that has a video (e.g. YouTube) channel
  • a checkout card is a card that facilitates a purchase transaction
  • a feed card is a card that contains a feed component
  • a widget card is a card that contains a widget component
  • a location card is a card that has a map/GPS component, etc.
  • the new card is anything other than a standard card, its nature will be defined during the deserialization of its contents and there is no need to differentiate between card types when the card node is first created in the object graph.
  • different types of card nodes e.g., standard card nodes, gallery card nodes, video card nodes, checkout card nodes, widget card nodes, location card nodes, etc.
  • card nodes can be created in the object graph based on the type of card that is being created, which may be explicitly defined in the descriptor through the use of card type 73.
  • the runtime can be arranged to associate specific attributes (e.g., behaviors, functionality, styles, etc.) or even specific components with a new card based on the card type.
  • specific attributes e.g., behaviors, functionality, styles, etc.
  • the component is understood to be a global component and one or more new corresponding component nodes are created in the object graph.
  • a global component can be any type of component that is intended to be applied to multiple (or all of the) cards. There are multiple different ways that a global component can be represented in the object graph 510.
  • a new component node corresponding to the global component is created in the object graphs card definitions 517 for each of the cards that the global component applies to (step 811).
  • the corresponding components are then created in the DOM (step 812).
  • the global component is associated with all of the cards, each of the cards will have a corresponding component node.
  • the global component is only associated with a subset of the cards, then a corresponding component node is created in each of the cards in that subset.
  • any subcomponents and attributes contained in the global component descriptor are associated with each of the global component nodes in the object graph and DOM as represented by flow chart step 813.
  • the global component appears as if it is a component of each of the cards.
  • Global components may be used for a wide variety of applications and are described in more detail above with regard to Figs 28 through Fig. 32.
  • one use case for a global component may be a logo that the wrap creator desires to associate with every card in a wrap. Since the global component applies to multiple cards, it is often desirable for the global component to be positioned after the card descriptors in the wrap descriptor. However that is not a requirement.
  • a single node may be created for the global component in the object graph and DOM. Such an approach may be preferred in certain circumstances such as when it is desirable for the global component to appear as an overlay for all of the cards in the wrap. In such a circumstance, the runtime can optionally be arranged to display the overlay in the same location as the user is flipping between cards. [00393] Regardless of which approach is taken, after the global component has been processed, the logic proceeds to step 817 where it is determined whether there are additional items in the wrap descriptor.
  • an attribute applied to the wrap might be a custom card transition behavior.
  • a custom card transition behavior For example, if the standard card transition behavior graphically mimics the appearance of the current card flipping to the side like a page would flip in a book, a custom card transition behavior might graphically mimic the current card sliding to the side from the top of a deck rather than "flipping.”
  • An example of a global style attribute might be a particular font or theme color that is intended to be used throughout the wrap.
  • the attribute is understood to be a global attribute and is associated with multiple or all of the cards as defined by the descriptor as represented by processing step 815.
  • wrap descriptor architecture is readily extensible. Therefore, other types of containers, components or functionality can be defined/added at any time. Therefore, if the next item in the wrap descriptor is any other type of item supported by the runtime viewer, then the item is processed appropriately as represented by step 816.
  • the deserializer 501 processes (deserializes) the card descriptors 46 by stepping through the card descriptor in substantially the same way.
  • One representative card deserialization process (step 808 from Fig. 12A) is described next with reference to Figs. 12B and 12C.
  • any card metadata such as the card id 71, the card name/title 72, the card type and/or any other relevant information is associated with the card node as represented by step 818.
  • the deserializer 501 then gets the next item in the card descriptor (step 819).
  • the card defined by the card descriptor may be composed of a wide variety of different components. For example, if the next item encountered is a text box component (as represented by decision 820), then a new text box object is created in the associated card definition 517 in the object graph 510 (as represented by 821).
  • the container or sub-container that the text box object belongs to is implicit based on the descriptor structure. That is, when the text box is presented as a component of the card descriptor, then the text box is associated with the card. Alternatively, if the text box is presented as a component of the wrap outside of the bounds of any particular card descriptor, then it would be considered a global text box. Still further, if the text box is presented as a part of a gallery item descriptor or other component, then the text box would be associated with that gallery item or other component.
  • a corresponding new text box is created in the DOM (822).
  • the text intended to populate the text box will be included in-line within the descriptor.
  • the appropriate text is inserted directly into the text box object in both the object graph and the DOM.
  • a component such as the text box or other type of component
  • the deserializer processes any attributes or subcomponents associated with the component as defined by the component descriptor. This process will be described below with respect to Fig. 12C and is represented in the flow chart of Fig. 12B by the element labeled "Go To 870 Fig. 12C".
  • a corresponding image object is created in the associated card definition 517 in the object graph 510 (as represented by 826).
  • the container or sub-container that the image object belongs to is implicit based on the descriptor structure.
  • a corresponding image object is then created in the DOM (827).
  • the actual image asset of interest is identified by reference in the descriptor rather than being included in-line.
  • the descriptor may contain a URL from which the image asset can be obtained.
  • the deserializer adds an entry corresponding to the new image asset to the asset load state tree 515 - and sets the entry to the "not loaded” state.
  • the image asset is requested from its source (step 828).
  • the actual request can be generated directly by the deserializer, or it can be delegated to a different routine. In browser based runtime viewers, responsibility for the actual request may be delegated to the browser. Thus, the actual image request will often not be part of the deserialization process, which is why the image request step 828 is shown in a dashed box in Fig. 12B.
  • the deserializer 501 processes the remainder of the image component descriptor as described below with respect to Fig. 12C. Thereafter the deserializer moves on to the next item without waiting for the image asset to actually be retrieved.
  • the ability to continue processing the descriptor while assets are being retrieved can greatly enhance the speed at which wraps can be rendered at runtime.
  • a corresponding video object is created in the associated card definition 517 in the object graph 510 (as represented by 831).
  • a corresponding video object is then created in the DOM (832).
  • Videos are generally not stored in-line within the descriptor.
  • the actual video asset of interest is identified by reference in the descriptor. Therefore, the deserializer handles the video in much the same way as described above with respect to images. Accordingly, an entry corresponding to the new video asset is added to the asset load state tree 515 - and the entry is set to the "not loaded" state.
  • the video is then requested (833) at the appropriate time based on the runtime's or browser asset request rules.
  • the deserializer 501 processes the remainder of the video component descriptor in the same manner that other component descriptors are handled as described with respect to Fig. 12C. Thereafter the deserializer moves on to the next item without waiting for the video asset to actually be retrieved.
  • the actual requests to download referenced assets can be managed quite separately from the deserialization process.
  • wrap template designer could be given some level of control over the download request order.
  • a browser based runtime may delegate the requests to the browser so that the runtime has little direct control over the timing of the requests.
  • a corresponding widget object is created in the associated card definition 517 in the object graph 510 (as represented by 836).
  • a corresponding internal frame e.g., an iframe
  • a call is also sent to the source indicated in the widget descriptor to obtain the content for the iframe (838). As previously discussed, the call will often contain parameters to be passed to the source.
  • the widget calls can be handled in a manner similar to the image or video asset requests discussed above, including inclusion in the asset load state list.
  • the deserializer 501 processes the remainder of the widget descriptor as described below with respect to Fig. 12C. Thereafter the deserializer moves on to the next item without waiting for the widget content to actually be retrieved.
  • an invisible event catching layer in front of the widget as described below in the more detailed description of widgets at runtime.
  • an empty container/frame is also added to the object graph in step 836.
  • the event catching layer having the same size and position as the widget and is arranged to appear in front of the widget to ensure that any user inputs that occur over the widget can be caught by the runtime.
  • a corresponding frame e.g., an HTML div element
  • a corresponding link is inserted into the object graph (step 841) and a corresponding link is created in the DOM (842). Thereafter, the deserializer 501 processes any attributes associated with the link component descriptors as described with respect to Fig. 12C.
  • a new gallery item is created in the associated card definition 517 in the object graph 510 (as represented by 852).
  • a corresponding new gallery item container is created in the DOM (as represented by 853).
  • the presence of a gallery item effectively makes the associated card a gallery card.
  • the gallery cards may have a distinct structure and gallery items may be only be used in such gallery cards.
  • the gallery item 594 is also a container, although it should be appreciated that when other component models are used, this would not necessarily be the case.
  • the deserializer processes the gallery item descriptor as represented by 854.
  • the gallery item descriptor can be processed in the same manner as the processing of the card descriptor described herein with respect to Fig. 12B and 12C, except that the components of the gallery item will be associated at the gallery item level rather than the card level and gallery items would typically not contain other gallery items, although such an architecture could readily be supported if desired.
  • attributes may be bound to any component, including container components.
  • an attribute can be bound to a content type component such as text, an image, a video, etc., or to a container, such as a card, a gallery, a gallery item, the wrap itself or any other component that contains subcomponents.
  • a container such as a card, a gallery, a gallery item, the wrap itself or any other component that contains subcomponents.
  • the deserializer continues to step through the component descriptor to identify any attributes and/or subcomponents that are associated with the component.
  • One such process is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 12C.
  • the logic determines whether there are any items (e.g., attributes, subcomponents, etc.) associated with the newly defined component (step 870).
  • next item is obtained as represented by step 872. If the next item is an attribute (step 874), the attribute (e.g., style or behavior) is associated with the component (step 876) in the object graph and DOM and the logic returns to step 870 where it looks for the next item in the component descriptor.
  • attribute e.g., style or behavior
  • step 877 If the next item is determined to be a subcomponent (step 877), the subcomponent is processed recursively in the same manner as described above with respect to Fig. 12B, except that the subcomponent is contained within its parent component.
  • the model is extensible so that if other types of items are defined that can be contained by a component, they can be processed appropriately in a similar manner as represented by box 879 in Fig. 12C.
  • the deserializer effectively determines whether there are any more items associated with the card as represented by decision block 883. If so, the logic returns to step 819 of Fig. 12B where the next item in the card descriptor is obtained and the same process is repeated for that item. This flow continues until there are no more items associated with the card (the no branch of decision block 883 of Fig. 12C) at which point the processing of the card descriptor is completed and the logic proceeds to decision block 817 of Fig. 12A where it is determined whether the wrap descriptor has any further items.
  • the deserializer continues to step through the wrap descriptor in the described manner until the entire wrap descriptor has been processed and the wrap is ready to be rendered. It should be appreciated that the particular container or parent that any particular component belongs to is implicit based on the descriptor structure itself.
  • the event handler 506 is arranged to handle events relevant to a wrap that are received once the wrap is rendered. As discussed above with respect to Fig. 12, any time a detected event impacts the wrap, the event handler will update the object graph appropriately, which in turn causes the DOM to update appropriately.
  • the architecture of the event handler 506 and its affiliated structures may vary widely.
  • the event handler 506 is arranged modularly to include an event handling core 507 that works in conjunction with a large number of specific event handling components (specific event handlers).
  • specific event handlers Use of such an architecture is contemplated with the embodiment described above with respect to Fig. 12 and components affiliated with one such embodiment of event handler 506 are described with reference to Figs. 17 and 18.
  • Many of the events that are expected to be received in conjunction with a wrap are navigation related UI gesture events. Examples of such events might include swipe gestures (e.g., left, right, up or down swipes), taps (often used for selection of an item), etc.
  • Discrete handlers may be provided for each such gesture, or multiple handlers may exist for a single gesture, in different contexts.
  • a first specific handler may be provided to handle left swipe events
  • a separate second specific handler may be provided to handle right wipe events and so on.
  • the specific action that is appropriate in response to a particular gesture event may vary based on the card. For example a left swipe will typically have an associated behavior of flipping to the next card. However, in certain circumstances a left swipe may invoke a different action (e.g., when the user is viewing the last card in a deck a left swipe gesture may invoke a card flip bounce- back animation) and invoke a different handler, based on that different context.
  • different handlers can be used to handle the same event in conjunction with different cards having different intended behaviors.
  • a first left swipe handlers can be utilized to handle left swipe events for most cards, while a second (and different) left swipe handler can be used to handle left swipes when the final card is active.
  • a second (and different) left swipe handler can be used to handle left swipes when the final card is active.
  • the same principle can be applied to any card.
  • Fig. 17 illustrates selected functional components of the event handler core 507.
  • the event handler core 507 includes a handler rules engine 610, a handler registry 612, and a current handler set list 614.
  • the handler registry 612 is a registry of all of the handlers that are available to the runtime. If a particular wrap requires a handler that is not present in the runtime, the event handler or other suitable mechanism can request the missing handler from a server side handler store or other appropriate location.
  • the current handler set list 614 identifies all of the handlers that are currently active. That is, all of the handlers that are appropriate for wrap in its current state including the currently active card.
  • the handler rules engine 610 defines that rules by which the various handler are made active or inactive at any time.
  • the specific rules may vary widely and may include immutable rules that cannot be changed, default rules that may be overridden by the appropriate instructions, special rules for particular cards/states, etc.
  • Special and override rules may be provided in any appropriate manner, as for example, by definition or reference in a wrap or card descriptor, as part of an extension etc.
  • the handler rules may designate a default left swipe handler which transitions the wrap to the next card in response to a left swipe.
  • the rules may further mandate that a default "last card left swipe handler" be used when the currently active card is the last card in the wrap.
  • the rules may permit the wrap or card to identify a different left swipe handler for use in place of the default handler(s) a specific circumstances, or as long as the wrap remains active.
  • the alternative left swipe handler may exhibit different behavior.
  • the behavior difference can be small as might be appropriate when the wrap author simply wants to use a different card transition animation, or it may be more complex.
  • the current handler set list 614 is updated based on the handler rules to add any newly required handlers and to eliminate handlers that are no longer active.
  • the components include the event handler core 507, feed event dispatcher 620, a scheduler 630, connection manager 635, navigation event handler 540 and state manager 560.
  • the event handler core 507 is generally arranged to handle a number of different types of events including system events, UI events 651, sensor based events 653, Geo based events 655 and a variety of other types of events 657.
  • UI events 651 include any events generated in response to user inputs including various gestures inputted on a touch sensitive display, keyboard entries, mouse clicks, three dimensional gestures performed over a touchless gesture recognition platform, inputs from other user I/O devices etc.
  • Sensor based events include inputs from any sensors connected to the computing platform, as for example the accelerometers commonly used in cell phones and other mobile devices, heart rate or other biometric monitors, thermistors, etc.
  • Geo events include events that are triggered based upon the user's geographic location. There are, of course a wide variety of other events the computing system may be arranged to receive or detect, including system events, registry based events, etc.
  • System events are generally events generated by the computing system as for example responsive to a call from another process.
  • An example of a registry source of event is a network registry - which may, for example initiate a "Wi-Fi available" event in response to the detection of a new Wi-Fi network when no networks were previously available.
  • the navigation event handler 650 which is sometimes referred to herein as the "pan handler", as it responds to panning events in the user interface, and includes the specific handlers that function to handle navigation based events.
  • the navigation handler 540 can optionally be integrated into the event handler core 507 if desired. Alternatively, other event handler core functionality can be delegated to other types of handlers similarly to navigation handler 540.
  • Feed event dispatcher 620 is arranged to dispatch feed related events. As such, it communicates with the event handler core 507 and connection manager 635 as appropriate. The connection manager 635, in turn, manages connections as appropriate for any particular feed.
  • Scheduler 630 has a plurality of timers and is arranged to track scheduled events. When the time arrives for a scheduled event, the scheduler 630 notifies the event handler core 507 or the feed event dispatcher 620 as appropriate to handle the scheduled events. Either the feed event dispatcher 620 or the event handler core 507 can schedule events using scheduler 630. For example, if a particular polling feed requires updates every 30 seconds, the feed event dispatcher 620 would register the polling requirements with the scheduler 630. The scheduler 630, in turn would notify the feed event dispatcher every 30 seconds of the need to poll again. In response to each notification, the feed event dispatcher 620, in turn, manages the mechanics of the poll, which might require opening a new connection, polling the source, returning the results to the associated card or component and closing the connection.
  • the widget descriptor may be processed in much the same manner as other components except that the runtime is arranged to create an internal frame within the associated card when a component of type widget is encountered.
  • the content for the internal frame e.g., the HTML formatted content
  • retrieval of the widget content is much like retrieval of other assets such as images, videos, etc., although the call is generally more complex due to the inclusion of the parameters with the call.
  • the deserializer 501 When the deserializer 501 encounters a widget component in a particular card descriptor, it creates an internal frame (e.g., an HTML iframe) to contain the widget. This is accomplished by first associating an iframe with the corresponding node in the object graph and then creating the iframe in the DOM.
  • the dimensions (height and width) of the iframe, as well as the location of its origin will typically be defined in the descriptor, although this is not a requirement. Indeed, in some circumstances such as widgets designed to present a gallery, it may be desirable not to assign a fixed height to the gallery. When the location and dimensions are defined, the corresponding dimensions are assigned to the iframe when it is created.
  • the runtime initiates a call to the widget server specified in the source identifier 126 passing the widget parameters 130 to the widget servers as part of the call.
  • the call may be made directly by the runtime or through the browser.
  • the widget server knows the content to send to the runtime viewer to populate the iframe and to define its presentation and functionality. More specifically, the server sends an HTML document to be rendered in the iframe.
  • the HTML document contains the desired content, scripts, etc. in a format suitable for rendering in the associated iframe.
  • the received HTML document is then included as the content of the iframe in the DOM in step so that the desired widget content is rendered when the associated card is rendered.
  • iframes are standard HTML containers that are currently utilized in a variety of web applications and web developers are quite familiar with their usage, thereby providing a flexible and well understood way for developers to provide wraps with customized content and/or functionality.
  • other internal frame structures can be used in place of iframes in alternative embodiments.
  • Virtually any type of web content can be rendered in a widget's iframe.
  • the content can contain links, scripts that impart behaviors and/or other useful constructs.
  • the content may include a link or trigger that lunches a cul-de-sac or opens a new browser tab outside of the wrap.
  • the card and widget designer(s) have complete control over the card's functionality and the targets to which the wrap user may link.
  • a card designer may wish to direct wrap viewers to a particular web page using either a new tab or cul-de-sac type structure.
  • the runtime viewer may be deployed in a variety of different ways, including, for example, by being executed on a general purpose browser, being incorporated into an application or applet, or in any other suitable manner.
  • Execution on general purpose browsers present some potential challenges that are more easily avoided in an application / applet.
  • most general purpose browsers are arranged to pass any user inputs that occur in the region of an iframe directly to the iframe. This can be problematic in the context of rendering a wrap because it is possible that a wrap related navigational gesture (as for example a swipe gesture) could be inputted or occur in full or in part over the region of the display allocated to the widget's iframe.
  • the runtime is arranged to "block" all user input events from being captured by the internal frame so that all user input events are passed to the runtime rather than being passed directly to the widget.
  • Many widgets will be "display only” widgets in that they do not need to directly interact with any user inputs.
  • the Date Countdown widget illustrated in Fig. 26 is a good example of a display only widget. Generally, there will be no need to ever pass user input events to a display only widget.
  • widgets are more "interactive" in that they facilitate or prompt user selections/inputs which must be passed on to the widget or require messages to be passed from the widget to the runtime viewer. Therefore, when interactive widgets are desired, the runtime viewer must be configured to facilitate communications between the runtime and the widget.
  • One way to facilitate user input event blocking is to place an invisible event catching layer in front of the iframe to intercept all user input events associated with the widget/iframe as briefly discussed above in the description of widget deserialization illustrated in Fig. 12B. That is, for every widget that is created in a wrap instance, a transparent event catching frame layer is created by the runtime. The event catching frame then directs the user input events to the runtime for processing.
  • the event catching layer may take the form of an HTML div element which is simply a container unit.
  • the div element is placed in front of the widget and preferably has the same size and location as the widget frame. This assures that the runtime will receive any user inputs made within the widget frame.
  • the event catching frame causes a div element to be created in the DOM. In other embodiments, the event catching frame can be explicitly defined in the card or widget descriptor.
  • any events that are interpreted as wrap navigational events are handled by the runtime in a normal manner as described above with respect to Fig. 12. Any other user inputs occurring within the region allocated to the widget are then passed to the widget as would normally occur when user inputs are made within the iframe bounds. Thus, any non- navigational user inputs occurring within the iframe that are not interpreted as a wrap related event are passed to the widget.
  • the widget is arranged to include a widget/runtime communication script tag to facilitate message passing.
  • the script tag triggers the loading of a message passing API via JavaScript.
  • the message passing API facilitates passing messages between the runtime viewer and the widget iframe and can be used to inform the widget of incoming user input events as well as to pass messages from the widget to the runtime.
  • the messages may be passed using any appropriate event messaging protocol.
  • one currently popular event messaging protocol that is suitable for this purpose is the window.postMessage method, although it should be appreciated that any other suitable event message passing protocol may be used in other embodiments.
  • the user input events transmitted in the event messages may not be directly understood by the HTML that defines the content of the widget.
  • such translation scripts are arranged to determine what kind of element was accessed and the proper action so that the widget acts as if it were directly addressed.
  • a set of translation scripts may be provided to widget developers that can translate typical widget events for typical widget components, such as a tap or click event on a button, a text box, a form, a pull-down or pop-up menu, etc. so that the widget developers don't need to try to program the translation scripts to support most common GUI constructs.
  • the focus could be applied to the entire widget or another designated portion of the widget so that any inputs on the widget/designated portion of the widget would pass directly to the widget.
  • a callback is placed on the text input element so that when focus is lost (e.g. a "blur" event occurs), the widget will send a blur message back to the runtime viewer that causes the runtime viewer to restore the event interception.
  • focus may be lost in a variety of different manners. For example, the focus may be lost when the user makes an input indicating that the text entry has been completed - (e.g. as may occur when a "return” or "enter” key is selected).
  • focus may be appropriate for a variety of other GUI constructs as well.
  • focus and blur are JavaScript constructs designed to facilitate event delegation.
  • widgets will also need to communicate back to the runtime.
  • Such widget to runtime viewer communication can be supported using the same messaging API.
  • the transaction widget is arranged to open a cul-de-sac to a web page when a "proceed to checkout" button is selected so that the transaction can be completed using the merchant's website.
  • the widget may pass a message to the runtime viewer requesting that the runtime viewer open a cul- de-sac to a particular website and potentially passing various parameters relevant to the transaction. Again, window.postMessage works well for this purpose.
  • the described wrap packages 10 are essentially cloud based portable data objects that can readily be distributed using a wide variety of electronic techniques including messaging, posting and inclusion as links in documents, articles or other electronic communications.
  • the wrap package 10 thus allows authors to take applet and website functionality and make them consumable as a message, delivered in a narrative storytelling format.
  • This allows the transformation of an app or website functionality into a portable, sharable, and savable wrap package 10, that can be distributed like electronic messages (e.g. email, SMS, text) or within the content of a media feed, such as social media feeds like Twitter or Facebook, a news feed like Reuters or Bloomberg Business, etc..
  • wrap packages 10 easy for publishers and others to distribute, but viewers and other recipients of a wrap may also readily share a wrap as a "message" with their friends, family, coworkers, colleagues, etc.. This is a powerful construct that can greatly extend or enhance the market (or other target segment) reach and penetration of a well designed wrap since a "message" from a friend or acquaintance is often more favorably received than a message from an unknown party. Neither applets nor websites are well suited for such viral distribution.
  • media sharing triggers 381 and 383 can be used to share the wrap package 310 with others via various social media or content distribution platforms.
  • these include Facebook, and Twitter, although it should be appreciated that similar sharing triggers can be provided to facilitate sharing the wraps using virtually any desired social media or content distribution platform.
  • media triggers are provided within or embedded in the wrap itself to facilitate sharing.
  • the wraps can be shared in a number of other ways as well.
  • the cover 15 that includes a URL associated with the wrap e.g., the wrap ID 42
  • the wrap ID 42 can be posted on a social media site or feed, emailed to others, or otherwise distributed using an electronic communication protocol or platform.
  • the wrap package 10 can also readily be stored on a viewer's device if the viewer so desires. Contrast this with a conventional multi-page website which is not designed to be persistently stored on a viewer's device as a unit, even if individual pages may sometimes be cached. It also eliminates third party aggregator (e.g., the Apple App Store; Google Play, etc.) control over the delivery of a company's services/messages to its customers as occurs in the distribution of conventional apps.
  • third party aggregator e.g., the Apple App Store; Google Play, etc.
  • wraps can readily be integrated into a wide variety of different platforms, including any type of media feed.
  • a wrap can readily be posted into and viewed in the context of a social media feed such as a Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
  • a wrap can readily be integrated into other types of feeds, such as a news feed (i.e., Reuters, Bloomberg business news, etc.), an RSS feed, or just about any other type of media feed.
  • wraps can be integrated within various blogs and micro publication platforms such as Tumblr, etc.
  • the ability to insert and distribute wraps as messages within media feeds and blogs is a very powerful construct for facilitating widespread and even viral delivery of wraps to a wide variety of potential viewers and/or consumers in the content consumption environments that they prefer.
  • the ability to consume the wrap within the context of a social media feed provides numerous advantages. First, it allows the viewer to view the wrap without closing out of, or navigating away from, the media feed they are already consuming. Second, by defining the content of the wrap to be similar or related to the subject matter of the feed already being consumed, the effectiveness of the wrap, along with viewer engagement, are both significantly improved. Third, the appearance of a wrap as a "message" within the feed of similar content significantly reduces the "friction" for the viewer to select and consume the wrap, as opposed to for example a banner ad, which are commonly ignored.
  • a wrap social media card can be configured to integrate a social media feed into a wrap such that the social media feed can be viewed within the context of a wrap, without forcing the user to leave the wrap and launch a separate app or open a new browser window. From the context of a wrap author, this has the potential to increase the "stickiness" of the wrap. That is, a user may be more inclined to spend more time viewing and interacting with the wrap if they are able to view desirable social media content, without having to close out of the wrap and/or open or otherwise navigate to a separate social media application.
  • a wrap dedicated to a specific event such as a music concert, a sporting event, etc. can include a social media card that allows the viewer to view, and post to, a social media stream associated with that event.
  • Fig. 19A illustrates a Twitter feed 720 viewed on a mobile device 712.
  • the feed 720 includes a wrap cover 725 included as part of a specific tweet 722.
  • the wrap cover 725 has an image and an embedded link suitable for accessing an associated wrap 700.
  • selection of the cover 725 launches the wrap 700 associated with the cover 725 in-line within the twitter feed 720.
  • the first card 701 is displayed in place of the cover 725, but still within the twitter feed 720. That is, the wrap 700 appears within a frame of the twitter feed that was previously occupied by the cover 725 - although the aspect ratio of the frame may optionally change to accommodate the wrap aspect ratio when the cover does not have the same aspect ratio as the wrap as can be seen by comparing Fig. 19B to Fig. 19A.
  • the now rendered wrap 700 may then be navigated, in situ, within the twitter stream 720 using swipe navigation as previously described. For example, swiping left on first card 701 causes the wrap to flip to the second card 702 as seen in Fig. 19C. Swiping left again on the second card 702 causes the wrap to transition to third card 703 as seen in Fig. 19D.
  • the individual cards including any gallery cards (not illustrated), can be navigated within the context of the twitter stream 720, by horizontal and/or vertical swiping.
  • a wrap included in a media feed may be of any desired length and may be browsed using the same standard wrap navigation techniques.
  • any of the above-mentioned types of cards may be incorporated into the displayed wrap, including gallery cards, transaction cards, appointment cards, booking and/or reservation cards, chat cards, cards incorporating feeds, etc.
  • the wrap Since the wrap is effectively incorporated into a tweet, the viewer is able to perform the standard Twitter function(s) on the tweet (and thus the wrap) through the use of standard Twitter tools.
  • the viewer is able to reply to the tweet by selecting reply button 730, retweet the post (and thus the wrap) by selecting retweet button 731, mark the tweet as a favorite by selecting favorite button 732, copy a link to the tweet, embed the tweet and/or utilize any other Twitter functionality that is available to the user.
  • this provides a powerful construct for distributing and sharing wraps.
  • the wrap 700 is displayed in-line within the Twitter feed 720.
  • selection of the cover may cause the wrap to open into a new container rather than appearing in-line within the Twitter feed.
  • the new container may take the form of a new pane, a new tab, a new window or any other GUI construct that is appropriate for the underlying platform.
  • Figs. 20A-20C show the same first three cards of the wrap 700 rendered in a "full screen" mode on a mobile phone.
  • the wrap cover 725 appearing within tweet 722 of the feed 720 is selected, the wrap 700 is rendered within the entire screen of the display of the consuming device, as illustrated.
  • the wrap 700 may alternatively be rendered in a top-justified container, a bottom justified container, a "3/4" size container within the center of the display screen, or in other specific locations relative to the screen.
  • a "close” button or similar construct may be provided to allow the user to return to the twitter feed after finishing with the wrap.
  • This type of behavior is sometimes referred to herein as a cul-de-sac. More generally, a cul-de-sac is a construct in which activating a link in a first container opens the target in a new container, and thereafter, closing the new container returns the user to the originating container.
  • a close button 740 is overlaid on a small portion of the wrap. That is, the close button 740 is an active trigger and can be seen on each of the cards, regardless of which card is currently displayed. Selection of the close button 740 closes the wrap and returns the user to the feed 720 (e.g., back to the view of Fig. 19A).
  • the close button 740 or any other container closing mechanism can be provided and/or displayed in a wide variety of other forms.
  • common close container constructs used in other cul-de-sac applications include: (i) close buttons located to the side or above the active display region; and (ii) a "cancel" or “close” link or button in a toolbar located above or below the active display region.
  • the close functionality would be associated with the container rather than the wrap itself.
  • the closing of the container would typically, although not necessarily, be handled by the browser rather than the wrap itself.
  • the new container may also include a Twitter toolbar if desired so that the user can perform standard Twitter operations such as reply 730, retweet 731, or mark as a favorite 732, etc.
  • the aspect ratio of the wrap rendered within the Twitter feed is substantially the same as the aspect ratio of the wrap when rendered "full screen" on the mobile device 712, as seen in Figs 20A- 20C.
  • the wrap can be rendered in a different aspect ratio as illustrated in Fig. 21, which shows card 703 of wrap 700 rendered at a different aspect ratio within Twitter feed 720.
  • the same aspect ratio would preferably be used for all of the cards in the wrap.
  • Twitter like many media feeds, can be viewed using either a general purpose browser window or with a dedicated Twitter app running on the consuming device. Regardless of which is used, a wrap runtime viewer is utilized to render the wrap.
  • the wrap runtime viewer may be executed by the browser.
  • the runtime engine may be either incorporated into the app so that the wrap can be viewed directly in the Twitter app, or the Twitter app may launch a browser that in turn renders the wrap.
  • the processes used to obtain the wrap descriptor and the runtime viewer may be the same as described above, as for example, with reference to Fig. 11.
  • the wrap is rendered, again either within a browser or within an app, it is rendered into the designated container, which as described above, can be in-line within a frame defined by a message within the media stream (e.g., Figs 19A-19D), full screen size (e.g., 20A-20D), or a partial screen size such as top or bottom justified or 3/4* sized, etc.
  • the runtime must be informed to add the close button 740 overlay.
  • the close functionality may be handled directly by the browser without involving the wrap. In either case, selection of the close button closes the associated container (e.g., pane, tab, etc.) and returns the user to the original media feed.
  • wraps can be incorporated into just about any type of media feed in substantially the same manner as described.
  • Fig. 22 illustrates the incorporation of a wrap into a post in a Facebook news feed.
  • Facebook feed 750 includes a post 752 having wrap cover 725 included therein. Similar to that described above, selecting the cover 725 causes the wrap 700 to be launched and rendered in a manner similar to any of those described above with respect to the Twitter example.
  • the wrap may be displayed in-line within the Facebook feed 750 (as seen in Fig. 22B) or in a separate container (not shown), which can take any form (e.g., a full screen, partial screen, a cul-de-sac, etc.).
  • the wrap runtime can be executed by a browser used to display the wrap, or it may be incorporated into a Facebook app itself.
  • the palette of Facebook tools that accompany posts can be used to interact with and/or share the wrap.
  • the wrap post can be shared with others using the Share tool 760, the user can comment on the wrap post using Comment tool 761 or "like" the wrap post using Like tool 762.
  • the other Facebook supported functionalities including embedding the wrap post on a website, etc. and be accomplished as well.
  • wraps can be integrated with virtually any other now existing or later developed media platform.
  • suitable and currently popular media platforms including news feeds, sports or gaming feeds, social media such as Instagram, Pinterest, MyFitnessPal, PhotoCircle, Vine, etc.
  • social media such as Instagram, Pinterest, MyFitnessPal, PhotoCircle, Vine, etc.
  • wraps can readily be integrated into various blogs and micro publication platforms such as Tumblr, etc.
  • a media feed card may be arranged to display or render a media feed directly in a wrap itself.
  • FIGs 23A through 23D a series of diagrams illustrating an exemplary wrap package with a media feed card is shown.
  • the wrap package is by the San Francisco 49'ers football team to fans following the 2015 NFL draft.
  • a card 771 showing the name of the drafted players in each round is shown
  • a gallery card 772 providing a profile of each drafted player (note for Fig. 23B, just the individual windows of the gallery card are shown for the sake of clarity)
  • Fig. 23C is a media feed card - specifically, a Twitter card 773 that includes a Twitter feed
  • Fig. 23D is a transact card 774 for purchasing 49er team merchandise.
  • Fig. 23C illustrates a Twitter media feed card 773 that includes a Twitter feed embedded within the card.
  • the Twitter card 773 displays a Twitter data feed in the context of a wrap.
  • the data feed that is displayed can be any data feed that the card author desires to include.
  • a wrap having to do with a football team might include a social media card that displays the team's Twitter data feed, a data feed associated with a particular hashtag, etc.
  • the user may be able to select a desired data feed from a menu of multiple available data feeds, or more generally, a search dialog box could be included on the card to allow a user to search particular terms.
  • fans consume the wrap they are capable of consuming the various tweets posted in the feed or contribute and/or insert their own tweet, all within the context of the feed card 23C of the wrap package.
  • a representative, nonexclusive, polling data feed descriptor suitable for establishing a Twitter data feed may have the following structure:
  • the twitter data feed descriptor 787 is a "live" server side event driven data feed as indicated by “live” data feed type 105.
  • the data feed source is https:/twitter.com/ as indicated by source 107.
  • the lifecycle of the data feed is only while the card is visible as indicted by lifecycle 109.
  • the descriptor further includes a set of parameters 115 that define the nature of the data feed to be retrieved.
  • the actual parameters that are appropriate for any particular social media data feed will depend heavily on the APIs required by the social media platform (e.g. Twitter) in order to define the desired data feed and may vary significantly based on the nature of the data feed that the card author seeks to facilitate.
  • parameters 791 and 792 in the example above - e.g., name/value pair 791 (lang: en) indicating the use of the English language; and name/value pair 792 (meta charset:utf-8) indicating the character set to be used in the data feed.
  • Other parameters may be used to define the content to be retrieved.
  • This type of information is represented by parameter 793 (hashtag: [@hashtag#l, @hashtag#2]) which represent specific hashtags to be included in the data feed. Still other parameters may be used to identify and/or authenticate the viewer.
  • parameters 794 and 795 e.g. name value pair 794 name: [$user_name] indicating the Twitter user name of the person viewing the wrap, and name value pair 795 Password: [$twitter_password]).
  • name value pair 794 name [$user_name] indicating the Twitter user name of the person viewing the wrap
  • name value pair 795 Password [$twitter_password]
  • a social media card 770 can be configured to provide the user's personalized data feed thereby allowing the user to view tweets from all of the people/entities that they follow as illustrated in FIG 24.
  • the card 770 needs to have an appropriate authentication mechanism.
  • the authentication mechanism can be explicit by requiring the user to input their user name and password into appropriate dialog boxes on the card or may be more implicit by maintaining the user authentication information in a cookie or state descriptor associated with the user/wrap.
  • FIG. 25 Another social media card is shown in Fig. 25, which illustrates a Facebook card 780 arranged to facilitate Facebook access.
  • Facebook card 780 is quite similar to the previously discussed Twitter card except that it facilitates access to Facebook.
  • Social media cards can be created to facilitate interaction with virtually any type of social media from within a wrap.
  • the card author has the ability to define the scope of the cards use.
  • the actual level of access facilitated in any particular social media card is largely up to the card author.
  • a flow chart 450 illustrating the steps of generating card descriptors 46 for each card 14 in a wrap 10 is shown.
  • a card descriptor 46 is a collection of data objects.
  • generating a card descriptor 46 generally involves generating and assembling individual data objects for all the component(s), content(s) and feature(s) contained in or associated with a the card 14, including any global component(s).
  • a first component (either a component that is specific to the card or a global component designated for the card) is selected. Thereafter, data object(s) are generated for the component (step 454) along with any associated content, regardless if inline or referenced by an identifier such as a URL. In addition, data object(s) are generated for attribute(s) (step 458), style(s) (step 460), trigger(s) (step 462) and/or defined and/or declared behavior(s) (step 464) associated with the component. In decision step 466, it is determined if data object(s) have not yet generated for are any additional components (again, either card specific or global). If yes, then steps 454 through 466 are repeated for each component. If not, then in step 470, any meta data is associated with the card. Finally, the card descriptor is generated from all the data object(s) and the meta data (step 472). The card descriptor thus contains everything needed to render the card at runtime.
  • a flow diagram 480 illustrating the steps of generating a wrap descriptor 40 is illustrated.
  • a first card of the wrap is selected and its card descriptor is generated (step 484) using the process described above with respect to Fig. 33.
  • decision 486 it is determined if there are any additional cards in the wrap package. If yes, then the next card in the wrap is selected or incremented (step 488) and the card descriptor for that card is generated in step 484. This process is repeated until a card descriptor is generated for all the cards in the wrap, as determined in decision 486.
  • any meta data is associated with the wrap package.
  • the wrap descriptor is generated from all the card descriptor(s), any global components, and any meta data 45 associated with the wrap 10.
  • the wrap descriptor 40 is thus a collection of card descriptors 46, each expressed as a collection of data objects defining the structure, layout and content for each of the cards 14, plus any global components. As such, the wrap descriptor 40 includes everything necessary to render the wrap upon runtime. As previously noted, the structure, layout and content of wrap descriptors 40, as well as card descriptors 46, can be represented using JSON, BSON or various markup languages, such as XML. Ecosystem for Creating and Distributing Cards with Widgets
  • FIG. 35 a block diagram of an ecosystem 3500 for authoring and distributing wrap packages is illustrated.
  • the ecosystem 3500 includes the wrap content delivery network as described above with regard to Figs. 9 A and 9B, a library 3502 for maintaining one or more of card templates 3504 and a wrap authoring tool 3506.
  • the card templates 3504 may be directed to a wide variety of different card types, such as text cards, image cards, photo cards, document cards, link cards, gallery cards, feed cards, or widget cards.
  • a widget card template is a card template that includes or otherwise specifies a widget, meaning it identifies a frame (i.e., height, width and location), a URL that identifies a remote widget server, and the calls and parameters to be exchanged between the widget card and the server.
  • a frame i.e., height, width and location
  • a URL i.e., URL that identifies a remote widget server
  • each of these card template types are generically referred to herein as card templates 3504.
  • the card templates 3504 are preferably, but not necessarily, created by third party creators or developers.
  • third party developers with a high degree of knowledge, expertise and sophistication in a given field can create the card templates 3504 that are applicable to and suitable for a given market.
  • the library 3502 can be populated with a wide variety of specialized card template types and functionality.
  • the creators of card templates 3504 is not necessarily limited to just third party developers.
  • any party including businesses and consumers who author, distribute and/or consume wrap packages, may also create card templates 3504 that are maintained in the library.
  • a Software Developer Kit SDK
  • APIs Application Program Interfaces
  • card templates 3504 can be created that conform to the wrap card standard and that are readily usable by the wrap authoring tool 3506 in the authoring of wrap packages without complication or the need for modification.
  • Businesses and consumers use the authoring tool 3506 to author and create wrap packages 10 using an authoring device 3508 (e.g., a mobile phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer, etc.).
  • the authoring process generally involves the selection of a card template, creating a card by duplicating the card template, and then editing the card to include desired content, functionality and/or services.
  • As the cards are authored they are then placed in one or more linear sequences, which defines the order in which the cards are rendered in response to navigational inputs when the wrap is consumed.
  • wraps can be authored to include a wide variety of (i) media, (ii) application functionality and/or (iii) e-commerce related services.
  • the authors of wrap packages 10 can generate individual cards 14 derived from card templates maintained in at least two logical locations.
  • the wrap authoring tool 3506 preferably includes its own set of card templates.
  • the card templates offered by the authoring tool 3506 enable the creation of various types of cards, such as gallery cards, text cards, image cards, widget cards, etc. As a general rule, however, these templates tend to be more generic in nature and are typically not specialized for any specific market.
  • the library 3502, on the other hand preferably (although not necessarily) includes highly specialize card templates and/or widget card templates 3504 that provide dedicated content, functionality and/or services targeted for a particular market. By offering different card templates that have both broad and specific applicability, authors have the ability to create wraps with both wide and specialized content and functionality.
  • the library 3502 and the authoring tool 3506 are shown as separate and distinct. It should be understood that this arrangement is merely illustrative. In actual embodiments, the library 3502 can be either directly incorporated into the authoring tool 3506 or separate, but accessible, by the authoring tool 3506.
  • a wrap descriptor 40 is generated. As discussed above, this process first involves generating a card descriptor 46 for each card 14 in the wrap package 10, as described with respect to Fig. 33. The wrap descriptor 40 is then generated from each of the card descriptors 46 as described above with regard to Fig. 34. A wrap identifier 42 is also assigned to the wrap package 10. Both the wrap descriptor 40 and the identifier 42 are stored in the content delivery network.
  • a wrap package 10, stored in the content delivery network can be distributed in a number of different ways.
  • a corresponding wrap cover 15, including or otherwise embedding the wrap identifier 42 may be published in a web site or an application.
  • a request for the wrap package 10 is made using the identifier 42.
  • the wrap identifier 42 an be embedded in a message, such an email or text, that is sent to a target recipient.
  • a request for the wrap package 10 is generated.
  • the corresponding wrap descriptor 40 including the card descriptors 46, are delivered to the requesting computing device 12.
  • a runtime instance of the wrap package 10 is then generated by the runtime engine 50 at the device 12, as described with respect to Figs 10, 11 and/or 12.
  • the card templates 3504 maintained in the library 3502 are organized or arranged into categories defined by different markets.
  • third party creators in different markets are each encouraged to create card templates, including widget card templates, pertinent to their given market respectively.
  • highly specialized card templates 3504, including widget card templates, applicable for a given market are made available in the library 3502.
  • card templates 3504 do not necessarily have to be organized by vertical markets. On the contrary, card templates 3504 can be organized in just about any predefined set of categories.
  • Fig. 36 a non-exclusive list of possible vertical markets is presented. This list includes retail, transportation, hospitality, travel, restaurant and food services, telecommunications, healthcare, banking, financial services, energy insurance, automotive, education, government, food and beverage, media and entertainment, real estate, and publishing.
  • third party creators can create card templates specialized for each of these markets. It should be noted that this list is merely illustrative and should in no way be construed as exhaustive. On the contrary, third party creators can participate in and can be encourage to create card templates and/or widgets in just about any industry or market.
  • OpenTable.com the popular online restaurant reservation company located in San Francisco, CA.
  • OpenTable may create card templates specific to OpenTable and the restaurant industry at large.
  • OpenTable may create card templates that are specifically suited for the incorporation of documents such as menus, image cards that are suited for photos depicting restaurants, text card templates that are suitable for describing various aspects of restaurants, etc.
  • OpenTable may also create one or more widget card templates that inter-operate with and provide access to their backend reservation computing infrastructure.
  • restaurants which are typically local or neighborhood establishments without a high degree of technology sophistication, can readily create wrap packages about their restaurants for distribution to their customers, including restaurant-specific cards derived from the card templates created by OpenTable. Since many of these wrap packages will likely include a table reservation booking widget for booking reservations through the OpenTable system, the wraps will likely drive traffic to the restaurant and increase the usage of the OpenTable system, resulting in a win- win proposition for both organizations.
  • the third party creator may be an automotive company, such as Ford Motor of Dearborn, MI.
  • Ford may create a host of card templates that are suitable for local Ford dealerships to create wrap packages that include applicable content and services.
  • card templates may be created to provide the ability to depict and describe current car models and features, accessories available for Ford vehicles, advertising content for factory rebates, etc.
  • card templates including appointment widgets can also be specified for scheduling service appointments, test drives, etc. at local dealerships.
  • Ford-specific templates local Ford dealerships can readily create highly specialized wrap packages with targeted, dealership-specific content and application functionality, a task not necessarily easily completed using more generic card and/or widget templates.
  • a non-exclusive implementation of an instantiation of a library 3502 with card templates organized into columns under different vertical market headings is illustrated.
  • the vertical markets include publishing, retail, hospitality, transportation, and entertainment.
  • Appropriate card templates 3504 are provided for each vertical market.
  • card templates for the publication of text, documents and links to other content for publication are provided.
  • card templates including widget cards applicable for conducting online commerce are provided, such as the display of items for sale with a Buy trigger incorporated therein, widget cards for implementing shopping cart, checkout and purchase functionality, etc.
  • Hospitality card templates for displaying images, text, menus are provided.
  • widget card templates for booking an appointment or chatting with an online representative are provided. While not described herein, the remaining headings similarly include relevant card templates, including possibly widget card templates, pertinent to each vertical market. It should be understood that the embodiment illustrated herein is merely illustrative and in no way should be construed as limiting. In real-world implementations, the library 3502 may include any number and/or type of different market categories. In addition, the different card templates 3504, including any widget card templates, provided in each category may significantly vary.
  • FIG. 38 an exemplary wrap package 3800 with some or all of the cards derived from card templates 3504 is illustrated.
  • the wrap package 3800 was authored by a retail business, and accordingly, includes cards and widgets suitable for the display and purchase of items for sale.
  • Card 3800A includes a text component and an image component to identify and depict the retailer.
  • Card 3800B includes a video component for inclusion of a marketing video.
  • Card 3800C is a gallery card including a number of gallery components, each displaying an item for sale and a "Buy" trigger. In the event the Buy trigger is invoked, a number of dependent widget cards (Dl through DN) are provided for processing the transaction.
  • Dl through DN dependent widget cards
  • a shopping cart widget For example, a shopping cart widget, widget(s) for inputting information needed for the transaction (credit card, shipping address, etc.), and a "Buy" widget for completing the transaction.
  • Card 3800D includes a chat widget that enables an online chat with a customer representative.
  • Card 3800E including an appointment booking widget that enables the booking of an appointment for a service offered by the retailer, such as a personal shopping assistant.
  • Card 3800F includes a GPS widget for providing driving directions to the location of the retailer.
  • card 3800G is a "share" card that allows the recipient of the wrap to share it with others, such as by posting it into a social media feed, including but not limited to Facebook or Twitter.
  • a number of the individual cards such as the gallery card 3800C and the dependent cards Dl-DN, the chat card 3800D and/or the appointment card 3800E may each be derived from retail specific card templates specialized for retail and included in the library 3502. It should be noted that this example is merely illustrative and is not intended to be limiting in any manner. As previously noted, the cards and/or widgets provided in any given wrap can be derived from templates maintained at any source including in the library 3502 or elsewhere.
  • Fig. 39 is a flow diagram illustrating steps performed within the ecosystem 3500 for the authoring of wrap packages using card templates 3504 maintained in an instantiation of a library 3502.
  • SDKs APIs and other tools are published, which enable card template developers to create card templates and widgets conforming to the wrap standard and that are compatible with cards 14, wrap packages 10, the wrap authoring tool 3506, wrap engine 50 and other components and features of the wrap infrastructure.
  • step 3904 parties, using the SDKs, APIs and other tools, create the card templates 3504, including possibly widget card templates.
  • parties using the SDKs, APIs and other tools, create the card templates 3504, including possibly widget card templates.
  • the third parties ideally operating within a given market, are incentivized to create card templates and widgets customized or specialized for their given market.
  • step 3906 the various card templates and/or widget card templates 3504 created by developers are maintained in the library 3502, preferably (although not necessarily) organized within one or more specified categories.
  • the categories can be specific markets, or alternatively, any by other class or division.
  • step 3908 businesses and consumers create wrap packages using, at least in part, cards derived from the card templates 3504 maintained in the library 3502.
  • the businesses and consumers that create the wrap packages are different than the parties that created the card templates 3504 per se. However, this is not a requirement. Any party, including those that created or contributed templates 3504 to the library 3502, may author wrap packages.
  • the authored wrap packages are distributed to recipients.
  • the distribution may take place in a number of different ways, for example, by including the wrap identifier in an email or text message, by including a corresponding wrap cover 15 in a web page, application, social media feed, etc.
  • the above-described ecosystem 3500 thus enables third parties, preferably with an expertise in a given market, to create specialized card templates 3504 that are maintained in the library 3502.
  • businesses and consumers in a given market can take advantage of these specialized card templates 3504, including widget card templates, in the library 3502. in this manner, businesses and consumers alike can quickly create wrap packages, including a wide array of highly pertinent content, application functionality, and e-commerce related services, targeted or pertinent for their given market, without having to create the cards and/or widgets themselves.
  • business and consumers can quickly create highly effective wrap packages with minimal effort by leveraging off the expertise of others.
  • Wrap packages 10 offer a number of benefits and attributes currently not available with conventional methods of distributing content, such as with PDFs, web sites, or stand-alone apps. Since cards 14 can be sequenced and authored to include media content, application functionality, and e-commerce related services, wrap packages 10 have the unique ability to narrate a story, in a book-like format, that captures and holds the attention of the viewer, while also offering an "app" like user experience. As such, wrap packages 10 offer a new web-based platform for storytelling, communicating ideas, and delivering highly visual and functional user experiences.
  • Wrap packages 10 thus enable a new business paradigm for selling, advertising, publishing, increasing brand loyalty, offering services, and contacting and engaging new and old customers alike, all ideally delivered to consumers on their mobile devices, where they spend their time and consciousness.
  • businesses used to have to build destinations (e.g., websites) or monolithic systems (e.g., "apps") they can now, instead, provide consumers with wrap packages 10, thai are delivered like messages, and that provide the user experiences and functionality they really want and need.
  • wraps 10 create opportunities for business to innovate and improve products and services, leveraging the mobile web in ways not before possible, because a convenient, enabling interface and platform did not previously exist.
  • Wrap packages 10 are also like interactive messages that can be easily shared, delivered over the mobile web, and locally stored. With the ability to share, distribute over the mobile web and locally store, popular wrap packages can readily go viral.
  • Wrap packages 10 are also preferably delivered using a SaaS (Software as a Service) model, meaning wrap packages are delivered only on an as -needed basis.
  • SaaS Software as a Service
  • Wrap packages can be authored by anyone, from an individual with little technical or design skills, to large and sophisticated enterprises.
  • Wrap packages 10 can be distributed narrowly to a specific or targeted person or persons or widely distributed to many, many persons.
  • Wrap packages 10 can be written once and can ran on just about any browser enabled device. As a result, wraps are not platform, operating system, or device dependent.
  • wrap packages 10 can be easily generated and optionally dynamically updated with new content
  • wrap packages can be used as a digital "corollary" or “companion”, accompanying the sale or rental of goods and/or services.
  • wrap packages can be created and distributed as an "Active Receipt" accompanying the sale or rental of a good or service.
  • the merchant can thus provide through the wrap package 10 ongoing contact and support to on-board, up- sell and/or cross-sell the customer with ancillary goods and/or services, potentially for the entire life cycle of the product or service, all delivered in a digital format that never gets lost or misplaced.
  • wrap packages can be used as an essential component of any product or service, delivering better customer service and creating new selling opportunities.
  • wrap packages 10 introduce the "narrative web", which is a storytelling mobile user interface, delivered over a cloud-based platform, ushering in a digital evolution of mobile marketing and customer relationship management.
  • wrap packages 10 have the unique ability to increase mobile engagement, lead generation, and conversion, enabling businesses to increase sales, improve loyalty, and enhance customer relationships and loyalty.
  • Wrap packages 10 thus offer a compelling business proposition by solving one of the biggest problems in the mobile space of today; namely the lack of connectivity between apps. With wrap packages 10, however, consumers and other users can enjoy a multi -function app-like experience, without having to be in an app, download an app, or open any apps.
  • wrap packages 10 are realized on mobile devices operating on the mobile web, it should be made clear that there is nothing inherent with wrap packages 10 that limit their usefulness or functionality in non-mobile environments. On the contrary, wrap packages 10 can also be used, and all the same benefits and attributes realized, on non-mobile devices, such as desktop computers and/or smart TVs for example.
  • the present invention is thus intended to be broadly construed to cover any system and method, such as carousel ads for example, that enables publishers and marketers to tell sequenced stories with (i) a combination of images, photos, text, video and other types of media, (ii) a swipe-able format that enables viewers to navigate the media displayed in one screen shot or frame to the next, and (iii) includes embedded app-like functionality and/or links to other locations that provide additional information or such functionality and/or services. Consequently, the present application should not be construed to just those specific embodiments as described herein.
  • all of the behaviors are declared rather than being stored in-line within the descriptor.
  • the descriptor itself does not have any programmable logic.
  • the declared behavior are all defined within the runtime viewer such that the runtime view can readily associate the desired behavior with the wrap, card or component as appropriate in a runtime instance of the wrap. It should be appreciated that this is a particularly powerful framework for enhancing portability of the wraps. With the descriptor / runtime viewer approach, a single item (the descriptor) can be used to define all of the content and functionality of a set of cards that can be rendered on virtually any platform.
  • the declared functionality is provided (or obtained) by the runtime viewers when the wrap is to be rendered so that the author of the wrap is not required to know or understand any of the idiosyncrasies of any particular platform.
  • the runtime viewer may be a generic runtime viewer (e.g., a viewer executable by a conventional browser) or may be native viewer customized for a particular platform. Regardless of the underlying platform, the runtime viewer handles the tasks of associating the declared behaviors with the wrap/cards/components which frees the wrap author and/or authoring tool from having to ensure that desired behaviors are programmed correctly for all of the different platforms that the wrap may be rendered on.
  • wrap packages provide businesses with a powerful tool for engaging their customers, suppliers, employees or other constituents in a format that is particularly well tailored for display on mobile devices.
  • wrap descriptor structures have been described. Although such descriptor structures work well, it should be appreciated that the actual descriptor structure may vary widely. For example, in some embodiments some special behaviors can be defined within a wrap descriptor if desired. Such in-line behavior definition might be particularly useful in association with certain behavior extensions that are not otherwise readily available. For example, JavaScript can be included within a JSON object and various other descriptor structures. Thus, when JSON descriptors are used, selected behaviors or behavior overrides can be defined in-line using JavaScript if desired. Although programmed functionality can be included in some circumstances, it should be appreciated that liberal definition of behaviors within a wrap tends to defeat some of the primary advantages of the described descriptor / runtime viewer framework.
  • Wrap packages 10 offer a number of benefits and attributes currently not available with conventional methods of distributing content, such as with PDFs, web sites, or stand-alone apps. Since cards 14 can be sequenced and authored to include media content, application functionality, and e-commerce related services, wrap packages 10 have the unique ability to narrate a story, in a book-like format, that captures and holds the attention of the viewer, while also offering an "app" like user experience. As such, wrap packages 10 offer a new web-based platform for storytelling, communicating ideas, and delivering highly visual and functional user experiences.
  • Wrap packages 10 thus enable a new business paradigm for selling, advertising, publishing, increasing brand loyalty, offering services, and contacting and engaging new and old customers alike, all ideally delivered to consumers on their mobile devices, where they spend their time and consciousness.
  • businesses used to have to build destinations (e.g., websites) or monolithic systems (e.g., "apps") they can now, instead, provide consumers with wrap packages 10, thai are delivered like messages, and that provide the user experiences and functionality they really want and need.
  • wraps 10 create opportunities for business to innovate and improve products and services, leveraging the mobile web in ways not before possible, because a convenient, enabling interface and platform did not previously exist.
  • Wrap packages 10 are also like interactive messages that can be easily shared, delivered over the mobile web, and locally stored. With the ability to share, distribute over the mobile web and locally store, popular wrap packages can readily go viral.
  • Wrap packages 10 are also preferably delivered using a SaaS (Software as a Service) model, meaning wrap packages are delivered only on an as -needed basis.
  • SaaS Software as a Service
  • Wrap packages can be authored by anyone, from an individual with little technical or design skills, to large and sophisticated enterprises.
  • Wrap packages 10 can be distributed narrowly to a specific or targeted person or persons or widely distributed to many, many persons.
  • Wrap packages 10 can be written once and can ran on just about any browser enabled device. As a result, wraps are not platform, operating system, or device dependent.
  • wrap packages 10 can be easily generated and optionally dynamically updated with new content
  • wrap packages can be used as a digital "corollary" or “companion”, accompanying the sale or rental of goods and/or services.
  • wrap packages can be created and distributed as an "Active Receipt" accompanying the sale or rental of a good or service.
  • the merchant can thus provide through the wrap package 10 ongoing contact and support to on-board, up- sell and/or cross-sell the customer with ancillary goods and/or services, potentially for the entire life cycle of the product or service, all delivered in a digital format that never gets lost or misplaced.
  • wrap packages can be used as an essential component of any product or service, delivering better customer service and creating new selling opportunities.
  • wrap packages 10 introduce the "narrative web", which is a storytelling mobile user interface, delivered over a cloud-based platform, ushering in a digital evolution of mobile marketing and customer relationship management.
  • wrap packages 10 have the unique ability to increase mobile engagement, lead generation, and conversion, enabling businesses to increase sales, improve loyalty, and enhance customer relationships and loyalty.
  • Wrap packages 10 thus offer a compelling business proposition by solving one of the biggest problems in the mobile space of today; namely the lack of connectivity between apps. With wrap packages 10, however, consumers and other users can enjoy a multi -function app-like experience, without having to be in an app, download an app, or open any apps.
  • wrap packages 10 are realized on mobile devices operating on the mobile web, it should be made clear that there is nothing inherent with wrap packages 10 that limit their usefulness or functionality in non-mobile environments. On the contrary, wrap packages 10 can also be used, and all the same benefits and attributes realized, on non-mobile devices, such as desktop computers and/or smart TVs for example.
  • the present invention is thus intended to be broadly construed to cover any system and method, such as carousel ads for example, that enables publishers and marketers to tell sequenced stories with (i) a combination of images, photos, text, video and other types of media, (ii) a swipe-able format that enables viewers to navigate the media displayed in one screen shot or frame to the next, and (iii) includes embedded app-like functionality and/or links to other locations that provide additional information or such functionality and/or services. Consequently, the present application should not be construed to just those specific embodiments as described herein.
  • all of the behaviors are declared rather than being stored in-line within the descriptor.
  • the descriptor itself does not have any programmable logic.
  • the declared behavior are all defined within the runtime viewer such that the runtime view can readily associate the desired behavior with the wrap, card or component as appropriate in a runtime instance of the wrap. It should be appreciated that this is a particularly powerful framework for enhancing portability of the wraps. With the descriptor / runtime viewer approach, a single item (the descriptor) can be used to define all of the content and functionality of a set of cards that can be rendered on virtually any platform.
  • the declared functionality is provided (or obtained) by the runtime viewers when the wrap is to be rendered so that the author of the wrap is not required to know or understand any of the idiosyncrasies of any particular platform.
  • the runtime viewer may be a generic runtime viewer (e.g., a viewer executable by a conventional browser) or may be native viewer customized for a particular platform. Regardless of the underlying platform, the runtime viewer handles the tasks of associating the declared behaviors with the wrap/cards/components which frees the wrap author and/or authoring tool from having to ensure that desired behaviors are programmed correctly for all of the different platforms that the wrap may be rendered on.
  • the declared behaviors paradigm can be contrasted with scripting in which the author of a web page must write, or otherwise obtain and manage the code that imparts desired behaviors or functionality to a web page (or the like).
  • Declared behaviors can also be contrasted with referenced behaviors, such as DHTML behaviors, where the author is responsible for specifying the location of the behavior, and implicitly authoring the referenced behavior (and ensuring its compatibility with different platforms) or monitoring the referenced behavior to ensure that compatibility is maintained.
  • referenced behaviors such as DHTML behaviors
  • wrap packages provide businesses with a powerful tool for engaging their customers, suppliers, employees or other constituents in a format that is particularly well tailored for display on mobile devices.
  • each card has an associated card identifier 71, which is preferably a globally unique identifier (GUID).
  • GUID globally unique identifier
  • the use of unique card identifiers 71 to identify individual cards is particularly useful to support mixing of individual cards of wraps. That is, the authoring of a wrap that uses or otherwise references one or more cards from other wrap(s).
  • a unique identifier 71 By assigning a unique identifier 71 to each card, authors can readily identify and use an already authored card from an existing wrap into a wrap that is in the process of being authored.
  • the unique ID 71 used for the mixed card may optionally be included as card meta data within a card descriptor for the mixed card.
  • the wrap descriptor for a wrap including a mixed card may either (a) copy the card descriptor for the mixed card from the original wrap package, (b) reference the card descriptor from the original wrap package, or generate a new card descriptor for the mixed card. Regardless of the embodiment used, the wrap descriptor includes everything needed to render the authored wrap, including the mixed card.
  • wrap descriptor structures have been described. Although such descriptor structures work well, it should be appreciated that the actual descriptor structure may vary widely. For example, in some embodiments some special behaviors can be defined within a wrap descriptor if desired. Such in-line behavior definition might be particularly useful in association with certain behavior extensions that are not otherwise readily available. For example, JavaScript can be included within a JSON object and various other descriptor structures. Thus, when JSON descriptors are used, selected behaviors or behavior overrides can be defined in-line using JavaScript if desired. Although programmed functionality can be included in some circumstances, it should be appreciated that liberal definition of behaviors within a wrap tends to defeat some of the primary advantages of the described descriptor / runtime viewer framework.

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Abstract

L'invention concerne un écosystème qui permet à des créateurs tiers de créer des modèles de cartes et des gadgets logiciels et à des entreprises et/ou à des consommateurs de créer des paquets d'emballage les utilisant à des fins de distribution. Lors de la création, les entreprises et les consommateurs, à l'aide d'un outil de création de paquets d'emballage peuvent incorporer les divers modèles de cartes et/ou les gadgets logiciels conservés dans une bibliothèque dans leurs paquets d'emballage. De cette manière, des entreprises et des consommateurs peuvent de la même façon créer rapidement des paquets d'emballage, comprenant un large éventail de contenu hautement pertinent et spécialisé, de fonctionnalité d'application et de services associés au commerce électronique, sans avoir eux-mêmes à créer les modèles et/ou les gadgets logiciels.
PCT/US2016/041562 2015-07-17 2016-07-08 Système et procédé de création et de distribution de paquets d'emballage de cartes Ceased WO2017014966A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (12)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US201562193830P 2015-07-17 2015-07-17
US62/193,830 2015-07-17
US201562195642P 2015-07-22 2015-07-22
US62/195,642 2015-07-22
US201562210585P 2015-08-27 2015-08-27
US14/838,164 US20160103594A1 (en) 2014-10-09 2015-08-27 Card based package for distributing electronic media and services
US62/210,585 2015-08-27
US14/838,164 2015-08-27
US15/006,798 US20170017634A1 (en) 2015-07-17 2016-01-26 System and method for authoring and delivering wrap packages of cards
US15/006,798 2016-01-26
US201662325373P 2016-04-20 2016-04-20
US62/325,373 2016-04-20

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