Story Referent Association System for Narrative Discovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of narratives such as books, movies, and audio books often find it difficult to discover similar stories based on specific elements they enjoy, like characters, time periods, or subject matter, as existing systems lack efficient methods to navigate and explore these associations.
Innovation Solution
A story server system that enables users to associate points in one story with referents and automatically links these to corresponding points in other versions or similar stories, using position maps and user interfaces to display and navigate these associations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If users manually search for similar stories by reading through multiple narratives, then they can discover stories with common elements, but this process is time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-computes and stores associations between stories and their referents (characters, places, events, subjects) in a database before user queries. This preliminary indexing allows users to instantly query related stories without manually searching through narratives, resolving the contradiction between complete story discovery and time efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary association database that mediates between stories and user queries. Instead of direct comparison, the system uses referents as intermediaries to link stories, enabling efficient discovery of related narratives through common elements without time-consuming manual search
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system stores detailed information about all stories and their elements, then users can explore associations between stories, but the system complexity and data storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments story information into discrete referent categories (characters, places, events, subjects) and stores them as separate indexed entities. This segmentation allows the system to manage complexity by organizing data into manageable categories while maintaining comprehensive story exploration capabilities through structured queries
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds a new dimensional layer of abstraction by introducing referents as an intermediate dimension between stories. Instead of directly comparing stories, the system operates in this additional dimension of referents, enabling versatile story exploration while keeping the core story storage relatively simple
3Productivity
If the system automatically associates referents with multiple story versions, then users can navigate between related stories efficiently, but the automation process requires sophisticated algorithms and processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs natural language processing and text analysis algorithms that automatically identify and extract referents from story texts without human intervention. The automation serves itself by using computational methods to perform the association task, achieving high productivity through sophisticated but self-contained processing
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for enabling a user to associate a story with one or more referents. In some embodiments, information representing a first version of a story may be caused to be displayed, and in the display of information representing the first version of the story, a user may be enabled to associate a referent with a first point in the first version of the story, where the referent is at least one of an event, a character, an object, a subject, a time, a place and a person. In some embodiments, the referent may be automatically associated with a second point in a second version of the story based at least in part on a point map associated with the first version of the story and the second version of the story.