WO2016000633A1

WO2016000633A1 - Information collecting method and information collecting system using such method

Info

Publication number: WO2016000633A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/083163
Authority: WO
Inventors: Waitung CHEUNG; Chunhsiao LIN; Shihcheng LAN; Hocheung CHEUNG
Original assignee: U3D Limited
Priority date: 2014-07-03
Filing date: 2015-07-02
Publication date: 2016-01-07
Also published as: TW201629755A; TWI605386B

Abstract

An information collecting method and an information collecting system using the information collecting method are provided. The information collecting method includes the following steps. Firstly, a projectable space instance for modeling a workspace is provided. The projectable space instance at least includes a collection management rule about at least one unified matter of the workspace, and the at least one unified matter is produced after at least one corresponding original matter is unified. Secondly, a URI of the projectable space instance is provided to at least one user and the workspace is provided to the at least one user. Consequently, the at least one unified matter is provided to a projected workspace by the at least one user. The projected workspace collects the at least one unified matter according to the collection management rule.

Description

INFORMATION COLLECTING METHOD AND INFORMATION COLLECTING SYSTEM USING SUCH METHOD

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an information collecting method, and more particularly to an information collecting method for collecting information through a workspace and an information collecting system using the information collecting method.

BACKGROUND

In today’s convenience daily life, people are accustomed to use an electronic device with computational capability to achieve various kinds of applications. For example, these applications include working, file processing, entertainment, social communication, and so on. With development of science and technology, knowledge can be propagated more quickly. Accordingly, various web platforms, operating systems and software tools have been developed for people to use, and brought more efficient lives to the users. However, some inconvenient and perplexing problems below occur.

Firstly, a large number of information tools in the same or different formats are distributed in different information sources. It is difficult to integrate the information contents and the tools that are obtained in a single workspace and have different formats because the information contents and the tools in different formats are usually incompatible.

Secondly, various kinds of webpage platforms, operating systems and software are almost developed by different developers, and usually independent from and incompatible with each other. Consequently, while a task is performed, it is unable to operate specified functions of different webpage platforms, operating systems and software through a single user interface. For example, when a first user intends to use a first function of Photoshop software and a second function of Photoimpact software to edit a first photo, the user has to open a user interface of the Photoshop software to perform the first function and open a user interface of the Photoimpact software to perform the second function. In other words, it is inconvenient to the user.

Thirdly, since different users have different habits and different purposes of manipulating the electronic devices, the working environments suitable for the users are only created in their widely-used electronic devices (such as home desktop computers) . Once a user leaves a location of the widely-used electronic device, the user can only access information that is stored in the widely-used electronic device through another electronic device via internet. Since the working environment of another electronic device is not frequently operated by the user, the second electronic device does not provide the widely-used application tool or the specified function. Unless the required application tool or the specified function is reinstalled in another electronic device, the user cannot perform a task.

Fourthly, at an era of information explosion, it is more difficult to collect information about a specified subject systematically. For example, although the user can use GOOGLE searching engine to collect information of an interested subject, the provided information contents of the searching result are usually diverse and lengthy and difficulty filtered and integrated. For collecting the information contents more efficiency, many users can cooperate with each other to perform a collective task. In particular, after the information contents collected by these users are uploaded to a shared space (e.g., a cloud space or a FTP space) and the information contents in the shared space are integrated by an integrator, the task of collection information is completed. However, the procedure of integrating the information contents is very complicated. For example, the files uploaded to the shared space may be in different formats (e.g., Word file format, TXT file format or PDF file format) . Since the integrator has to unify these files sequentially, the procedure of integrating the information contents is labor-intensive and time-consuming.

From the above discussions, it is necessary to provide a workspace for allowing various information contents and tools in different webpage platforms, operating systems and software to be compatible with each other in order to implement a specified task. Moreover, for saving manpower and time, it is important for the workspace to automatically perform a specified operation on the information which is uploaded to the workspace.

SUMMARY

For solving the drawbacks of the conventional technologies, the present invention provides an information collecting method for collecting information through a workspace and an information collecting system using the information collecting method. Consequently, the manpower and time in collecting and integrating information will be largely reduced.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information collecting method. Firstly, a projectable space instance for modeling a workspace is provided. The projectable space instance at least includes a collection management rule about at least one unified matter of the workspace, and the at least one unified matter is produced after at least one corresponding original matter is unified. Then, a URI (uniform resource identifier) corresponding to the projectable space instance is provided to at least one user and the workspace is projected to the at least one user, so that the at least one unified matter is provided to a projected workspace by the at least one user. The projected workspace collects the at least one unified matter according to the collection management rule.

In an embodiment, the information collecting method further includes a step of transmitting the URI to the at least one user through at least one platform and/or at least one channel.

In an embodiment, the at least one platform includes at least one of an operating system and a browser.

In an embodiment, the at least one channel includes an e-mail, an intranet, a social network, a blog, a website and or a chat communication channel.

In an embodiment, the URI includes a HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) URI, a FTP (file transfer protocol) URI, or a local file URI.

In an embodiment, the projected workspace collects the at least one unified matter through at least one unified tool provided to the projected workspace.

In an embodiment, the at least one unified tool collects the at least one unified matter after the at least one original matter uploaded to the projected workspace is unified into the at least one unified matter.

In an embodiment, the at least one unified tool includes an intelligent agent, and the intelligent agent performs a collecting operation on the at least one unified tool according to the collection management rule.

In an embodiment, the intelligent agent converts a file format of the at least one unified matter.

In an embodiment, the at least one original matter uploaded to the projected workspace is unified into the at least one unified matter by the projected workspace through at least one information importer provided to the projected workspace.

In an embodiment, the information collecting method further includes a step of using a projector to parse the projectable space instance to build a working environment, so that the projected workspace is executed in the working environment and the at least one user interacts with the projected workspace.

In an embodiment, the at least one unified matter includes at least one unified information unit and/or at least one unified tool.

In an embodiment, at least one original information corresponding to the at least one unified information unit includes a file, a web page, a database row, a policy, a rule, a policy of the projected workspace or any information accessible from a corresponding machine or a server, and/or at least one original tool corresponding to the at least one unified tool includes a utility, a widget, an agent, an application, a service or any executable element accessible from a corresponding machine or a server.

In an embodiment, the projectable space instance is an object, an extensible markup language document, or an instance which is instantiated with a structured language or a structured protocol.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information collecting system. The information collecting system includes a first machine and at least one second machine. The first machine has a projectable space instance. The projectable space instance models a workspace, and the projectable space instance at least comprises a collection management rule about at least one unified matter of the workspace. The at least one unified matter is produced after at least one corresponding original matter is unified. The projectable space instance in the first machine is loaded to the at least one second machine through a URI (uniform resource identifier) . Each of the at least one second machine includes a projector. After the projector parses the projectable space instance, the workspace is projected to the at least one second machine, so that the at least one unified matter is provided to a projected workspace by at least one user. The projected workspace collects the at least one unified matter according to the collection management rule.

In an embodiment, the second machine acquires the URI through at least one platform and/or at least one channel.

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of a unifying method according to an embodiment；

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of using the unified script as an intermediate language for implementing the personal workspace；

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a preferred configuration of a personal workspace；

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an initial state of the method of projecting the workspace according to an embodiment of the present invention；

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams illustrating operating concepts of the method of projecting the workspace as shown in FIG. 4；

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between a projectable space instance as shown in FIG. 4 and a projected workspace as shown in FIG. 5B；

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a flowchart of an information collecting method according to an embodiment of the present invention；

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a usage situation of the information collecting method according to an embodiment of the present invention；

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of propagating a projectable space instance as shown in FIG. 8；

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of performing the information collecting method of FIG. 7 in the usage situation of FIG. 8；

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between the projectable space instance and a projected workspace according to an embodiment of the present invention；

FIG. 12A is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between a first student and the projected workspace of the first machine as shown in FIG. 10；

FIG. 12B is a schematic diagram illustrating a storing state of the storage device as shown in FIG. 10 after the first student interacts with the projected workspace of the first machine；

FIG. 13A is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between a second student and the projected workspace of the second machine as shown in FIG. 10；

FIG. 13B is a schematic diagram illustrating a storing state of the storage device as shown in FIG. 10 after the second student interacts with the projected workspace of the second machine；

FIG. 14A is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between a third student and the projected workspace of the third machine as shown in FIG. 10；

FIG. 14B is a schematic diagram illustrating a storing state of the storage device as shown in FIG. 10 after the third student interacts with the projected workspace of the third machine；

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between a professor and the projected workspace of the fifth machine as shown in FIG. 10；

FIGS. 16A and 16B are schematic diagrams illustrating the relationship between the projectable space instance compiled by a trip planner and the corresponding projected workspace according to an embodiment of the present invention；

FIG. 17A is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of collecting trip experiences through the projected workspace；

FIG. 17B is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between the trip planner and the corresponding projected workspace； and

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating an information collecting system using the information collecting method of FIG. 7 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is more fully appreciated by reference to the following description, including the following glossary of terms and the concluding examples. For the sake of brevity, the disclosures of the publications, including patents, cited in this specification are herein incorporated by reference.

The examples below are non-limiting and are merely representative of various aspects and features of the present invention. The term “information source” used herein is defined as a sequence of symbols that can be interpreted as a message in the most limited technical meaning. And the message is used for organizing and labeling information. For example, the information source includes website (such as internet service) , intranet, social network, software, electronic book, database and other media of information (such as storage media of non-transitory computer or storage media of mobile device) . The term “original information” used herein is a file, a webpage, a database row, a policy, a rule or any data accessible in corresponding machines and servers, but is not limited thereto. The term “original tool” used herein is a utility, a widget, an intelligent agent, an application, a service or any executable component accessible in corresponding machines and servers, but is not limited thereto. It is noted that the information sources, the original information and the original tool are not restricted to the above examples.

Moreover, “original information” and “original tool” are implementation examples of “original matters” used herein. In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of “original matters” from identical or different “information sources” are modeled to a plurality of “unified matters” by a unifying method. Consequently, the “unified matters” in the same execution environment are compatible with each other and cooperate to perform a specified task. The “unified tool” and the “unified information unit” are implementation examples of the “unified matters” . Moreover, the term “Matterizer” used herein is a means, a device or a program code to perform the unifying process.

In an embodiment, the above unifying method comprises steps of: modeling at least one original information obtained from at least one information source of multiple information sources into a unified information unit with one unified data model via re-organizing the original information, and/or modeling at least one original tool obtained from at least one information source of multiple information sources into a unified tool with another unified data model via re-organizing the original tool. The one unified data model and another unified data model could be identical or different, and the unifying method described above could be completed through a matterizer.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of a unifying method according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the matterizer 992 re-organizes an attribute and a link of an original matter 991 with a unified data model 993, and thus models the original matter 991 into a unified matter 994. Consequently, the basic attributes of the unified matter 994 include a type of the original matter 994 and a link indicating where the original matter 994 is located.

In this embodiment, the original matter 991 at least includes an original information (not shown) or an original tool (not shown) , but is not limited thereto. In the above unifying method, if the attribute accessible from the original information corresponds to the attribute to be unified in the unified information unit, the unified information unit is directly produced through the matterizer 992. If the attribute accessible from the original information does not correspond to the attribute to be unified in the unified information unit, the original information is firstly re-defined by logically re-organizing the attributes and the link of the original information, and then the original information is converted into a new original information with the attributes which correspond to attributes to be unified in the unified information unit. Consequently, the unified information unit is indirectly produced.

Moreover, if the original tool is compatible with the working environment of the workspace, the unified tool is directly produced by the matterizer 992. On the other hand, if the original tool is incompatible with the working environment of the workspace, the unified tool is indirectly produced via an adapter and/or a software development kit (SDK) of the original tool to drive the original tool. The adapter provides an interface implementation compatible with the working environment.

Herein, “the descriptions of the unifying method” , “the methods of obtaining the unified matters” and “the descriptions of the matterizer” may be referred to the US Patent Application No. 14/324,069, entitled “A method of unifying information and tool from a plurality of information sources” , and also referred to the China Patent Application No. 201410768564.X, which claims the benefit of priority to the US Patent Application No. 14/324,069 and is entitled “A method of unifying information and tool from a plurality of information sources and computer product and device using the method” . The detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

The above unifying method is presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. The method of unifying a plurality of original matters from different information sources is not restricted. However, those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.

Hereinafter, two other unifying methods will be illustrated. The first unifying method is applied to a method of unifying the information of Garmin satellite navigation. Through a point-of-interest (POI) function of the Garmin satellite navigation, the method of unifying the information is employed to unify the imported original point information (i.e., an original information) into the corresponding unified point information (i.e., a unified information unit) . The second unifying method is applied to a method of unifying the tool of an Android system. The Android system is a Linux-based open source mobile operating system. However, most application programs (i.e., original tools) are written in the Java programming language. Consequently, the application program (i.e., the original tool) written in the Java programming language can be modeled into a unified application program (i.e., the unified tool) compatible with the Android system so as to be executed in the Android system.

The term “workspace” used herein is a working environment for providing interactions between the at least one matterizer, the at least one tool and/or the at least one information so as to implement a specified task. Moreover, the at least one tool and/or at least one information can be imported into the workspace through the at least one matterizer. However, the way of importing the information and/or tool into the workspace is not restricted. Hereinafter, information importers such as the

information importers

9881, 9882 and 9883 of FIG. 2, the PDF importer 831 of FIGS. 11, 12A, 13A, 14A and 15 and the post importer 861 of FIGS. 16, 17A and 17B are some examples of the matterizer. The term “unified script” used herein is an intermediate language to implement the workspace. Moreover, via the “unified script” , the at least one matterizer, the at least one tool and/or the at least one information can be provided to the workspace (e.g., built in or plugged in the workspace) .

In an embodiment, the above at least one information is a unified information unit which is produced after at least one original information obtained from at least one information source is unified, and the above at least one tool is a unified tool which is produced after at least one original tool obtained from at least one information source is unified. Moreover, according to different tasks, the required unified information unit and/or the required unified tool from the corresponding information source can be added to the personal workspace (e.g., built in or plugged in the personal workspace) . In other words, the “workspace” is a user-orientated “personal workspace” .

Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of using the unified script as an intermediate language for implementing the personal workspace. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a preferred configuration of a personal workspace. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a unified information unit 985’ corresponding to an original information 985 in Dropbox 982, a first unified tool 986’ corresponding to a compatible original tool 986 in a cloud storage 983 and a second unified tool 987’ corresponding to an incompatible original tool 987 in a server 984 are combined together into a personal workspace 981 according to the required tasks. In particular, a unified script 980 which is regarded as an intermediate language for implementing the personal workspace 981 is firstly compiled, and then an information importer 9881 of the Dropbox 982, an information importer 9882 of the cloud storage 983 and an information importer 9883 of the server 984 are configured through the unified script 980. Moreover, after the original information 985 in the Dropbox 982 is unified into the unified information unit 985’ by the information importer 9881, the unified information unit 985’ is imported into the personal workspace 981.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the original tool stored in the cloud storage 983 is the compatible original tool 986, which is compatible with the component architecture of the unified tool in the personal workspace 981. Moreover, the first unified tool 986’ corresponding to the compatible original tool 986 is directly provided to the personal workspace 981 through the information importer 9882 of the unified script 980.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the original tool stored in the server 984 is the incompatible original tool 987, which is incompatible with the component architecture of the unified tool in the personal workspace 981. Moreover, the second unified tool 987’ corresponding to the incompatible original tool 987 is provided to the personal workspace 981 through the compatible adapter 989 and the information importer 9883 of the unified script 980.

As shown in FIG. 3, the user can configure and arrange (e.g., group or place) the unified information unit 985’ , the first unified tool 986’ and the second unified tool 987’ in a specific area of the personal workspace 981 according to the practical requirements. Moreover, according to the operational relationship between the unified tool and the unified information unit (e.g., the clicking or dragging actions between the two) , the user can perform specified tasks by using the unified tool to access or control the corresponding unified information unit.

Herein, “the descriptions of using the unified script as the intermediate language for implementing the personal workspace” and “the descriptions of allowing the required unified information unit and/or the required unified tool from the corresponding information sources to be arbitrarily combined together into the personal workspace according to the practical requirements” may be referred to the US Patent Application No. 14/325,466, entitled “Method for performing task on unified information units in a personal workspace” , and also referred to the China Patent Application No. 201410796528.4, which claims the benefit of priority to the US Patent Application Nos. 14/324, 069 and 14/325, 466 and is entitled “A method of combining unified matters in a personal workspace and computer product and device using the method” . The detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

The above personal workspace is presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is noted that the workspace used in the present invention is not restricted. For example, the unified script as the intermediate language for implementing the workspace can be previously edited. Consequently, the workspace equips the default matterizer, the default information and/or the default tool. This workspace is not limited to be operated by a single user. According to the practical requirements, this workspace can be operated by multiple users at the same time or at different times.

Moreover, the “workspace” used herein is obtained by “a method of projecting a workspace” to any electronic device with computational capability. Consequently, the “projected workspace” can be operated by any user through any electronic device with computational capability.

In an embodiment, the method of projecting the workspace comprises the following steps. Firstly, a projectable space instance instantiated by the unified script is obtained through a uniform resource identifier (URI) . As mentioned above, the unified script is defined to configure at least one of the matterizer, the information and the tool to model the workspace. Moreover, the projectable space instance is used to build the projected workspace corresponding to the workspace, and thus provide an interface for operating at least one of the matterizer, the information and the tool to implement a task. Then, a projector parses the projectable space instance and build a working environment to configure at least one of the matterizer, the information and the tool so as to execute the projected workspace for providing interactions between at least one user and the projected workspace.

The projector is acquired from a remote data station, the projectable space instance or a preloaded application program, and loaded to an engine for providing a compatible environment to execute the projector. An example of the engine includes but is not limited to a Javascript engine, a Windows application or a Linux application. Preferably but not exclusively, the unified script can be declared by a document type definition (DTD) , an extensible markup language (XML) Schema, a structured language or a structured protocol. Preferably but not exclusively, the projectable space instance is an object, an extensible markup language (XML) document, or an instance instantiated with a structured language or a structured protocol.

Please refer to FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B and FIG. 6. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an initial state of the method of projecting the workspace according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams illustrating operating concepts of the method of projecting the workspace as shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between a projectable space instance as shown in FIG. 4 and a projected workspace as shown in FIG. 5B.

In the initial state of FIG. 4, a first electronic device 971 and a second electronic device 972 are in communication with each other (e.g., through network connection) . Moreover, the first electronic device 971 stores a projectable space instance 973, and the second electronic device 972 has a built-in projector 974.

In this embodiment, the unified script 9731 is declared by a document type definition (DTD) and defined to configure at least one information importer (i.e., an example of the matterizer) , at least one unified information unit and/or at least one unified tool to model a workspace, and the projectable space instance 973 is an instance instantiated with the extensible markup language (XML) . As shown in FIG. 6, the projectable space instance 973 is used for building a projected workspace 976 corresponding to the workspace. Moreover, the information importer, the unified information and/or the unified tool is allowed to be added to or removed from the projectable space instance 973.

The projector 974 of the second electronic device 972 will build a working environment 975 in the second electronic device 972 for executing the projected workspace 976. In addition, the projector 974 provides a microkernel 977 (see FIG. 6) to the working environment 975 for equipping at least one information importer, at least one unified information and/or at least one unified tool that will be added to the projected workspace 976. When the second electronic device 972 acquires the projectable space instance 973 from the first electronic device 971 through a URI, the projector 974 of the second electronic device 972 starts to parse the projectable space instance 973 (see FIG. 5A) . After the projectable space instance 973 is parsed by the projector 974, the projected workspace 976 is built in the working environment 975 according to parsed contents of the projectable space instance 973 (see FIG. 5B) . Accordingly, a user of the second electronic device 972 can interact with the projected workspace 976 through the second electronic device 972 so as to perform related tasks.

The relationships between the unified script 9731, the projectable space instance 973 and the projected workspace 976 will be illustrated in more detailed through a usage situation as shown in FIG. 6. The usage situation as shown in FIG. 6 is related to a process of building a projected workspace that is capable of accessing jpg format image files and gif format image files from a specified internet space and allowing the image files to be viewed by a user. In this usage situation, the unified script 9731 is declared by the Document Type Definition (DTD) , and the projectable space instance 973 is instantiated with XML.

Moreover, an information importer and a unified tool are added into the projectable space instance 973, and at least one unified information unit corresponding to the original information is imported into the projected workspace 976 through the information importer. In this usage situation, the information importer is a Dropbox importer. The information of the Dropbox importer is disclosed in the dashed line frame 9761 of FIG. 6. The original information includes a jpg format image file 9791, a jpg format image file 9792 and a gif format image file 9793 in Dropbox 979 (i.e., an information source) . The unified information units include a unified jpg format image file 9791’ , a unified jpg format image file 9792’ and a unified gif format image file 9793’ , which will be described later. The unified tool is an image viewer for accessing image files which are imported into the projected workspace 976. The information of the image viewer is disclosed in the dashed line frame 9762 of FIG. 6.

As mentioned above, the projected workspace 976 is built after the projectable space instance 973 is parsed by the projector 974 of the second electronic device 972. In this embodiment, the Dropbox importer 9761’ corresponding to the dashed line frame 9761 and the image viewer 9762’ corresponding to the dashed line frame 9762 are configured in the projected workspace 976. Moreover, the jpg format image file 9791, the jpg format image file 9792 and the gif format image file 9793 in Dropbox 979 are unified and imported into the projected workspace 976 by the Dropbox importer 9761’ . Consequently, the unified jpg format image file 9791’ corresponding to the jpg format image file 9791, the unified jpg format image file 9792’ corresponding to the jpg format image file 9792 and the unified gif format image file 9793’ corresponding to the gif format image file 9793 are displayed on the projected workspace 976. When the user of the second electronic device 972 manipulates any of the unified image files 9791’ , 9792’ and 9793’ by any specified operating means (such as an action of clicking any of the unified images files 9791’ , 9792’ and 9793’ or an action of dragging and dropping any of the image files 9791’ , 9792’ and 9793’ to the image viewer 9762’ ) , the image viewer 9762’ will access the contents of the corresponding unified image files 9791’ , 9792’ or 9793’ to allow the unified image files 9791’ , 9792’ or 9793’ to be viewed by the user. Moreover, the Dropbox importer 9761’ and the image viewer 9762’ mentioned above are equipped by the microkernel 977.

It is noted that the URI of the projectable space instance 973 may be a HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) URI or a FTP (file transfer protocol) URI. In case that the first electronic device 971 and the second electronic device 972 are integrated into one device, the URI of the projectable space instance 973 can also be a local file URI. However, the types of the URI of the projectable space instance 973 are not restricted.

Herein, “the descriptions of the method of projecting the workspace” may be referred to the US Patent Application No. 14/324, 069, entitled “Method of projecting a workspace and system using the same” , and also referred to the China Patent Application No. 201410814138.5, which claims the benefit of priority to the US Patent Application Nos. 14/324,069, 14/325,466 and 14/577,772 and is entitled “Method of projecting a workspace and system using the same” . The detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

The above method of projecting the workspace to any electronic device with computational capability is presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. The method of projecting the workspace to any electronic device with computational capability is not restricted. However, those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Moreover, any workspace can be projected to any electronic device with computational capability. That is, any workspace can be delivered to any electronic device with computational capability.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a flowchart of an information collecting method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information collecting method comprises the following steps:

Step P1: Provide a projectable space instance for modeling a workspace, wherein the projectable space instance at least comprises a collection management rule about at least one unified matter of the workspace, and the at least one unified matter is produced after at least one corresponding original matter is unified； and

Step P2: Provide a uniform resource identifier corresponding to the projectable space instance to at least one user and project the workspace to the at least one user, so that the at least one unified matter is provided to a projected workspace by the at least one user, wherein the projected workspace collects the at least one unified matter according to the collection management rule.

Hereinafter, the information collecting method of FIG. 7 will be illustrated with reference to FIGS. 8～15. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a usage situation of the information collecting method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of propagating a projectable space instance as shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of performing the information collecting method of FIG. 7 in the usage situation of FIG. 8. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between the projectable space instance and a projected workspace according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12A is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between a first student and the projected workspace of the first machine as shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 12B is a schematic diagram illustrating a storing state of the storage device as shown in FIG. 10 after the first student interacts with the projected workspace of the first machine. FIG. 13A is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between a second student and the projected workspace of the second machine as shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 13B is a schematic diagram illustrating a storing state of the storage device as shown in FIG. 10 after the second student interacts with the projected workspace of the second machine. FIG. 14A is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between a third student and the projected workspace of the third machine as shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 14B is a schematic diagram illustrating a storing state of the storage device as shown in FIG. 10 after the third student interacts with the projected workspace of the third machine. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between a professor and the projected workspace of the fifth machine as shown in FIG. 10.

The concepts of the present invention will be illustrated in more detailed through the following usage situation. In the usage situation, a professor intends to collect study assignments from students, and the study assignments are files in a PDF format. Consequently, in the usage situation corresponding to the information collecting method of FIG. 7, the study assignments of the students are examples of original matters. After the study assignments of the students are unified, the unified matters to be collected by the information collecting method of FIG. 7 are generated. Moreover, in this usage situation, the at least one user in the information collecting method of FIG. 7 includes a professor and multiple students.

Please refer to the step P1 of FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 11. Before the processor 54 collects the

study assignments

961, 962 and 963 of the

students

51, 52 and 53, a projectable space instance 60 is previously installed in a fourth machine 41. The projectable space instance 60 is used for modeling a workspace. Moreover, after the projectable space instance 60 is previously compiled by the professor 54 or any authorized person, the projectable space instance 60 has a collection management rule 82 about the study assignments of the students. For example, according to the collection management rule 82, only the files in a specified format are collected. Moreover, according to the compiling settings of the projectable space instance 60 by the professor 54 or any authorized person, a desired unified tool 81 and an information importer 83 are provided to the projected workspace. The operations of the unified tool 81 and the information importer 83 will be illustrated later.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, a unified structure 61 is declared by a document type definition (DTD) , and the projectable space instance 60 is an instance instantiated with the extensible markup language (XML) . FIG. 11 also shows the compiled contents of the projectable space instance 60 and the relationships between the projectable space instance 60 and the unified tool 81 and the information importer 83 of the projected workspace 8. In FIG. 11, the both ends of each dotted line denote the compiled contents of the projectable space instance 60 and the corresponding unified matter in the relationship. Moreover, the collection management rule 82 will be illustrated as follows. For example, if the study assignments are files in the PDF format, the study assignments are directly transmitted to and stored in a storage device 43. Whereas, if the study assignments are not files in the PDF format, the study assignments are automatically converted into the files in the PDF format and then transmitted to and stored in the storage device 43. In this embodiment, the unified tools 81 include a PDF collector 811 and a PDF reader 812. The PDF collector 811 is used for converting the file formats of the study assignments and transmitting the converted files of the study assignments to the storage device 43. For example, the PDF collector 811 is an intelligent agent. The PDF reader 812 is used for reading the contents of the study assignments. The information importer 83 includes a PDF importer 831 for unifying the study assignments from the storage device 43 and importing the unified study assignments into the projected workspace 8. The operations of the PDF importer 831 will be described with reference to FIGS. 12A～15.

In the usage situation of FIG. 8, the storage device 43, a first machine 1, a second machine 2, a third machine 3 and a fifth machine 42 are shown. The first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 and the fifth machine 42 are operated by a first user 51, a second user 52, a third user 53 and the professor 54, respectively. Moreover, each of the first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 and the fifth machine 42 has a projector 7. Preferably but not exclusively, the projector 7 is at least acquired from a remote data station (not shown) , the storage device 43, the projectable space instance 60 in a fourth machine 41 or a preloaded application program (not shown) in the first machine 1, the second machine 2 or the third machine 3.

In this embodiment, the first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 and the fifth machine 42 are connected with the storage device 43 and the fourth machine 41 directly or indirectly (e.g., through network connection indicated by dotted lines as shown in FIG. 10) . Consequently, any unified matter can be transmitted between the first machine 1 and the storage device 43, between the second machine 2 and the storage device 43, between the third machine 3 and the storage device 43, and between the fifth machine 42 and the storage device 43. Moreover, the projectable space instance 60 in the fourth machine 41 can be transmitted to the first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 and the fifth machine 42.

Next, please refer to the step P2 of FIG. 7 and FIG. 9. The projectable space instance 60 has a corresponding URI. When the professor 54 intends to collect the study assignments of the students and the projectable space instance 60 is stored in the fourth machine 41, the professor 54 can transmit the URI of the projectable space instance 60 to the first student 51, the second student 52 and the third student 53 through a platform and/or a channel. Consequently, the first student 51, the second student 52 and the third student 53 can respectively load the projectable space instance 60 into the first machine 1, the second machine 2 and the third machine 3 through the URI.

For example, the platform for transmitting the URI is an operating system or a browser, and the channel for transmitting the URI is an e-mail, an intranet, a social network, a blog, a web site or a chat communication channel. The type of the platform and the type of the channel are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only.

Next, please refer to the step P2 of FIG. 7 and FIG. 10. The projectors 7 in the first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 and the fifth machine 42 build working environments 71 in the first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 and the fifth machine 42, respectively. Consequently, projected

workspaces

8A, 8B, 8C and 8D can be executed in the working environments 71. In addition, the projectors 7 provide microkernels 72 (see FIG. 11) in order for equipping the information importer 83 and the unified tool 81 that are compiled in the projectable space instance 60. After the first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 and the fifth machine 42 acquire the projectable space instance 60 from the fourth machine 41 through the URI, the projectors 7 start to parse the projectable space instance 60. After the projectable space instance 60 is parsed by the projectors 7, the projected

workspaces

8A, 8B, 8C and 8D are built in the working environments 71 according to parsed contents of the projectable space instance 60. Consequently, the first student 51, the second student 52, the third student 53 and the professor 54 can interact with the projected

workspaces

8A, 8B, 8C and 8D through the first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 and the fifth machine 42, respectively. That is, the first student 51, the second student 52 and the third student 53 can respectively upload their study assignments to the projected

workspaces

8A, 8B and 8C, and the professor 54 can acquire the study assignments of the first student 51, the second student 52 and the third student 53 through the projected workspace 8D.

For example, in the usage situation of this embodiment, the projected

workspaces

8A, 8B, 8C and 8D are sequentially created in the working environments 71 of the first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 and the fifth machine 42. In addition, the first student 51, the second student 52 and the third student 53 sequentially transmit their study assignments to the projected

workspaces

8A, 8B and 8C. First of all, please refer to FIGS. 12A and 12B. When the projected workspace 8A is created in the first machine 1, no study assignment is shown in the projected workspace 8A. Meanwhile, the first student 51 can upload his study assignment 961 to the projected workspace 8A through the first machine 1 (see FIG. 12A) . In this usage situation, the study assignment 961 of the first student 51 is a PDF file. Consequently, according to the collection management rule 82, the study assignment 961 will be directly transmitted to the storage device 43 through the PDF collector 811 (see FIG. 12B) .

Next, please refer to FIGS. 13A and 13B. During the process of creating the projected workspace 8B in the second machine 2, the study assignment 961 stored in the storage device 43 is unified and imported into the projected workspace 8B by the PDF importer 831. Consequently, after the projected workspace 8B is created in the second machine 2, the study assignment 961’ s hown on the projected workspace 8B can be viewed by the second student 52. Meanwhile, the second student 52 can upload his study assignment 962 to the projected workspace 8B through the second machine 2 (see FIG. 13A) . In this usage situation, the study assignment 962 of the second student 52 is also a PDF file. Consequently, according to the collection management rule 82, the study assignment 962 will be directly transmitted to the storage device 43 through the PDF collector 811 (see FIG. 13B) .

Next, please refer to FIGS. 14A and 14B. During the process of creating the projected workspace 8C in the third machine 3, the

study assignments

961 and 962 stored in the storage device 43 are unified and imported into the projected workspace 8C by the PDF importer 831. Consequently, after the projected workspace 8C is created in the third machine 3, the study assignments 961’ and 962’ shown on the projected workspace 8C can be viewed by the third student 53. Meanwhile, the third student 53 can upload his study assignment 963 to the projected workspace 8C through the third machine 3 (see FIG. 14A) . In this usage situation, the study assignment 963 of the third student 53 is not a PDF file. Consequently, according to the collection management rule 82, the study assignment 963 of the third student 53 is automatically converted into the PDF file and the converted study assignment 963’ is transmitted to the storage device 43 (see FIG. 14B) .

Next, please refer to FIG. 15. During the process of creating the projected workspace 8D in the fifth machine 42, the

study assignments

961, 962 and 963’ stored in the storage device 43 are unified and imported into the projected workspace 8D by the PDF importer 831. Consequently, after the projected workspace 8D is created in the fifth machine 42, the study assignments 961’ , 962’ and 963” shown on the projected workspace 8D can be viewed by the professor 54. Meanwhile, the professor completes the task of collecting the study assignments (see FIG. 15) . Consequently, after the processor 54 performs a specified operation (e.g., an action of clicking a target study assignment or an action of dragging and dropping the target study assignment to the PDF reader 812) , the PDF reader 812 will access the contents of the corresponding study assignments 961’ , 962’ and 963” to allow the study assignments 961’ , 962’ and 963” to be viewed by the processor 54. Optionally, according to the settings defined by the professor 54 or any authorized person, the collection management rule 82 cannot be viewed by the students. Consequently, the collection management rule 82 is circumscribed by a dotted frame.

It is noted that the collecting procedure in the above usage situation may be modified or altered. For example, while any study assignment is uploaded to the projected workspace 8, the study assignment uploaded to the projected workspace 8 is firstly unified by the PDF collector 811 and then the unified study assignment is subjected to a collecting process. For example, the file in the WORD format is converted into the file in the PDF format by the collecting process.

In some embodiments, the PDF collector 811 that is set up and configured in the projected workspace 8 can be a format conversion tool installed in a remote computing device (e.g., a remote server) . If the file in the non-designated format is received by the projected workspace 8, the file in the non-designated format is firstly transmitted from the projected workspace 8 to the remote computing device. After the file in the non-designated format is converted into the file in the designated format by the format conversion tool of the remote computing device, the file in the designated format is transmitted to a specified storage device. The above implementation examples are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. In another embodiment, the PDF collector 811 that is set up and configured in the projected workspace 8 can be a format conversion tool previously installed in the first machine 1, the second machine 2, the third machine 3 or the fifth machine 42. In this embodiment, the storage device is an independent machine, but is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the storage device is a storage element installed in any machine (e.g., the fourth machine 41) . Moreover, in this embodiment, the fourth machine 41 and the fifth machine 42 are two independent machines, but are not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the fourth machine 41 and the fifth machine 42 are collaboratively operated and integrated into the same device. However, those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.

The present invention further provides another embodiment of an information collecting method. The concepts of the present invention will be illustrated in more detailed through the following usage situation. In the usage situation, a trip planner intends to collect trip experiences (such as trip schedules or photos) from friends, and the trip experiences are originally posted or recorded in different social network platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) by these friends. In this usage situation, the trip planner can firstly configure a projectable space instance to model a personal workspace according to the collecting purpose, and then transmit a URI of the projectable space instance to these friends. Consequently, projected workspaces can be created in machines of these friends, respectively. Under this circumstance, these friends can add their own trip experiences to the projected workspace from the social network platforms where the trip experiences originally posted or recorded (e.g., by a dragging and dropping action) . Consequently, the trip experiences added to the projected workspace can be viewed by the trip planner through the projected workspace.

Please refer to FIGS. 16A, 16B, 17A and 17B. FIGS. 16A and 16B are schematic diagrams illustrating the relationship between the projectable space instance compiled by a trip planner and the corresponding projected workspace according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17A is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation concept of collecting trip experiences through the projected workspace. FIG. 17B is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between the trip planner and the corresponding projected workspace. After a first friend 55, a second friend 56 and a third friend 57 of the trip planner 58 add their own trip experiences 964, 965 and 966 to the projected workspace 8E from the social network platforms where the trip experiences originally posted, the contents of the projected workspace 8E viewed by the trip planner 58 are shown in FIG. 17B.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B, a unified structure 63 is declared by a document type definition (DTD) , and the projectable space instance 62 is an instance instantiated with the extensible markup language (XML) . FIGS. 16A and 16B also show the compiled contents of the projectable space instance 62 and the relationships between the projectable space instance 62 and the unified tool 84 and the information importer 86 of the projected workspace 8’ . In FIGS. 16A and 16B, the both ends of each dotted line denote the compiled contents of the projectable space instance 62 and the corresponding unified matter in the relationship. In this embodiment, the collected trip experiences are transmitted to and stored in the storage device 43 according to the collection management rule 85. Moreover, the unified tools 84 include a post collector 841 and a post viewer 842. The post collector 841 is used for transmitting the collected trip experiences to the storage device 43. The post viewer 842 is used for reading the contents of the trip experiences. The information importer 86 includes a post importer 861 for unifying the trip experiences from the storage device 43 and importing the unified trip experiences into the projected workspace 8E.

As shown in FIG. 17A, the trip experience 964 posted in Facebook 101, the trip experience 965 posted in Twitter 102 and the trip experience 966 posted in Instagram 103 are added to the projected workspace 8E by the first friend 55, the second friend 56 and the third friend 57 (e.g., by a dragging and dropping action) through their own machines (not shown) , respectively. According to the collection management rule 85, the post collector 841 will transmit the trip experiences 964, 965 and 966 to the storage device 43. Then, please refer to FIG. 17B. During the process of creating the projected workspace 8E in the machine (not shown) of the trip planner 58, the trip experiences 964, 965 and 966 stored in the storage device 43 are unified and imported into the projected workspace 8E by the post importer 861. Consequently, after the projected workspace 8E is created in the machine of the trip planner 58, the trip experiences 964’ , 965’ and 966’ shown on the projected workspace 8E can be viewed by the trip planner 58. Meanwhile, the trip planner 58 completes the task of collecting the trip experiences. Consequently, after the trip planner 58 performs a specified operation (e.g., an action of clicking a target trip experience or an action of dragging and dropping the target trip experience to the post viewer 842) , the post viewer 842 will access the contents of the corresponding trip experiences 964’ , 965’ and 966’ to allow the trip experiences 964’ , 965’ and 966’ to be viewed by the trip planner 58.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating an information collecting system using the information collecting method of FIG. 7 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 18, the information collecting system 95 comprises a first machine 951 and multiple second machines 952. For brevity, only one second machine 952 is shown in the drawing. A projectable space instance 953 is previously installed in the first machine 951. The projectable space instance 953 is used for modeling a workspace. Moreover, the projectable space instance 953 has a collection management rule (not shown) about the unified matters. Moreover, each unified matter is produced after the corresponding original matter is unified. Moreover, the projectable space instance 953 in the first machine 951 can be loaded to these second machines 952 through a corresponding URI.

Moreover, each second machine 952 has a projector 954. After the projector 954 parses the projectable space instance 953, the workspace is projected to the second machine 952 so as to be operated by the corresponding user of each second machine 952. Consequently, the unified matter is provided to the projected workspace 955. According to the collection management rule, the unified matter provided to the projected workspace 955 is collected by the projected workspace 955. The implementation example of loading the projectable space instance 953 of the first machine 951 to the second machines 952 through the URI and the implementation example of executing the projected workspace 955 in these second machines 952 are similar to those mentioned above, and are not redundantly described herein.

From the above descriptions, the present invention provides an information collecting method and an information collecting system using the information collecting method. The information collecting method and the information collecting system of the present invention can not only collect information from different platforms but also execute a process of automatically integrating the collected information. Consequently, the manpower and time in collecting information will be largely reduced. In other words, the present invention is industrially applicable.

While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.

Claims

An information collecting method, comprising steps of:

providing a projectable space instance for modeling a workspace, wherein the projectable space instance at least comprises a collection management rule about at least one unified matter of the workspace, and the at least one unified matter is produced after at least one corresponding original matter is unified； and

providing a URI (uniform resource identifier) corresponding to the projectable space instance to at least one user and project the workspace to the at least one user, so that the at least one unified matter is provided to a projected workspace by the at least one user, wherein the projected workspace collects the at least one unified matter according to the collection management rule.
The information collecting method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of transmitting the URI to the at least one user through at least one platform and/or at least one channel.
The information collecting method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one platform includes at least one of an operating system and a browser.
The information collecting method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one channel includes an e-mail, an intranet, a social network, a blog, a website or a chat communication channel.
The information collecting method according to claim 1, wherein the URI includes a HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) URI, a FTP (file transfer protocol) URI, or a local file URI.
The information collecting method according to claim 1, wherein the projected workspace collects the at least one unified matter through at least one unified tool provided to the projected workspace.
The information collecting method according to claim 6, wherein the at least one unified tool collects the at least one unified matter after the at least one original matter uploaded to the projected workspace is unified into the at least one unified matter.
The information collecting method according to claim 6, wherein the at least one unified tool includes an intelligent agent, and the intelligent agent performs a collecting operation on the at least one unified tool according to the collection management rule.
The information collecting method according to claim 8, wherein the intelligent agent converts a file format of the at least one unified matter.
The information collecting method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one original matter uploaded to the projected workspace is unified into the at least one unified matter by the projected workspace through at least one information importer provided to the projected workspace.
The information collecting method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of using a projector to parse the projectable space instance to build a working environment, so that the projected workspace is executed in the working environment and the at least one user interacts with the projected workspace.
The information collecting method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one unified matter includes at least one unified information unit and/or at least one unified tool.
The information collecting method according to claim 12, wherein at least one original information corresponding to the at least one unified information unit includes a file, a web page, a database row, a policy, a rule, a policy of the projected workspace or any information accessible from a corresponding machine or a server, and/or at least one original tool corresponding to the at least one unified tool includes a utility, a widget, an agent, an application, a service or any executable element accessible from a corresponding machine or a server.
The information collecting method according to claim 1, wherein the projectable space instance is an object, an extensible markup language document, or an instance which is instantiated with a structured language or a structured protocol.
An information collecting system, comprising:

a first machine having a projectable space instance, wherein the projectable space instance models a workspace, and the projectable space instance at least comprises a collection management rule about at least one unified matter of the workspace, wherein the at least one unified matter is produced after at least one corresponding original matter is unified； and

at least one second machine, wherein the projectable space instance in the first machine is loaded to the at least one second machine through a URI (uniform resource identifier) , and each of the at least one second machine comprises a projector, wherein after the projector parses the projectable space instance, the workspace is projected to the at least one second machine, so that the at least one unified matter is provided to a projected workspace by at least one user, wherein the projected workspace collects the at least one unified matter according to the collection management rule.
The information collecting system according to claim 15, wherein the second machine acquires the URI through at least one platform and/or at least one channel.
The information collecting system according to claim 16, wherein the at least one platform includes at least one of an operating system and a browser.
The information collecting system according to claim 16, wherein the at least one channel includes an e-mail, an intranet, a social network, a blog, a website and or a chat communication channel.
The information collecting system according to claim 15, wherein the URI includes a HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) URI, a FTP (file transfer protocol) URI, or a local file URI.
The information collecting system according to claim 15, wherein the projected workspace collects the at least one unified matter through at least one unified tool provided to the projected workspace.
The information collecting system according to claim 20, wherein the at least one unified tool collects the at least one unified matter after the at least one original matter uploaded to the projected workspace is unified into the at least one unified matter.
The information collecting system according to claim 15, wherein the at least one original matter uploaded to the projected workspace is unified into the at least one unified matter by the projected workspace through at least one information importer provided to the projected workspace.
The information collecting system according to claim 15, wherein the at least one unified matter includes at least one unified information unit and/or at least one unified tool.
The information collecting system according to claim 23, wherein at least one original information corresponding to the at least one unified information unit includes a file, a web page, a database row, a policy, a rule, a policy of the projected workspace or any information accessible from a corresponding machine or a server, and/or at least one original tool corresponding to the at least one unified tool includes a utility, a widget, an agent, an application, a service or any executable element accessible from a corresponding machine or a server.