Importance

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Abstract

A system for producing presentations of computer application programs. The system also allows the inclusion of advertising, or other information, into a presentation. When the presentation is viewed online, the ads can be updated by a central ad server. This allows different ads to be inserted into the presentation, tailoring ads to the viewer, etc. When the presentation is viewed offline, default ads are kept in the presentation. Authoring software is used to create a sequence of screenshot images of an application program to be presented. Each screenshot is a slide in the presentation and is displayed for an interval of time during playback of the presentation. The authoring software also allows control of cursor movement animation to be played back during the presentation. Text description in the form of 'bubble text,' 'memo text,' 'questions,' etc. can be specified along with the position, size and other properties of the text. Various controls are provided for selection, editing, arrangement of the slides. Characteristics such as cursor shape, speed of movement, starting and ending positions, alignment, etc. can be set by the author. The author can specify a 'click area' in association with a question, or prompt, to the viewer of the presentation. This allows the presentation to ask the viewer to click on a button or control on a slide and to detect whether the viewer has complied. In response, additional feedback can be provided to the viewer as to whether the proper action was performed or not. After an author completes a sequence, the sequence is compressed into a small self-contained package. In a preferred embodiment, the package includes two files that can be played back without any dedicated engine or specialized application that could require a separate download. A typical user with a web browser can quickly obtain a presentation from the Internet and play back the presentation instantly.

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First Claim