Patent Application
20080250320
Dynamically generated charts provide a visual representation of real-time data quickly to a client in a client/server architecture. Utilizing dynamically generated charts for displaying financial data, such as data related to stocks, allows for an accurate visualization of data that is constantly changing. Providing symbols, or indicators, indicating potentially relevant information related to the data series displayed on a dynamic chart may be useful in analyzing trends and explaining data fluctuations.
Previously, finance-related dynamic charts would provide indicators to signal splits, dividends, or news stories associated with a particular data series displayed in a dynamic chart. An example of a finance dynamically generated chart is a chart displaying the stock price plot from a past time to the current time the chart is generated. Symbols can also be displayed on the dynamic chart, such as statistical, or technical, indicators, indicating splits and dividends displayed along the corresponding price and time of the stock price plot.
In other finance-related dynamic charts, the chart displays a stock price plot along with relevant news article indicators, which indicate the time the news article was released. The news indicator indicates to a user that the news article may have had some impact on the stock price. However, a news article irrelevant to a stock trader or buyer may falsely indicate a possible source for a stock price fluctuation.
In other cases, technical analysis indicators provide useful information to a user. However, the technical indicators provide only limited insight into the data series displayed on the dynamic chart. These types of predefined technical indicators are options provided to a user. The user may then choose which indicators they would like to be displayed on the chart. However, the indicators are not defined by the user, and the user may not customize the indicator according to specific conditions the user may be interested in. Moreover, purely technical indicators do not show the impact of the indicated event on a group of people or an individual, or the social sentiment at the time that may affect the real-time data series on a dynamic chart.
Therefore, the ability for a user to define visual indicators with media content from more than one source on a dynamically generated chart is desired.
In accordance with embodiments of the invention, a method for providing a customizable media indicator on a dynamically generated graphical representation of real-time data is provided. The method includes receiving a user-defined request from a user to annotate the real-time data with at least one media indicator. Together with the dynamically generated graphical representation of the real-time data, the at least one media indicator is provided for display at a client. The method further includes receiving a first external media data defined by the user for association with the media indicator. The first media data is provided in response to a user action associated with the at least one media indicator. The at least one media indicator is sharable with a plurality of users.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, a method for providing a customizable media indicator on a dynamically generated graphical representation of real-time data is provided. The method includes receiving the real-time data and a user-defined condition from a user to annotate the real-time data with at least one media indicator. The at least one media indicator provides media data to the user in response to a user action associated with the at least one media indicator. The method further includes determining the media indicator data related to the real-time data. Displaying a graphical representation of the real-time data and the at least one media indicator is accomplished using the media indicator data.
Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the features in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The summary is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The present invention and its various embodiments are better understood upon consideration of the detailed description below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.
In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof, and which illustrate several embodiments of the present invention. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and operational changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.
The following description is presented to enable any person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. Descriptions of specific materials, techniques, and applications are provided only as examples. Various modifications to the examples described herein will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other examples and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the examples described and shown, but is to be accorded the scope consistent with the appended claims.
By enriching dynamic charts with user comments and opinions through media-type files, additional insight is gained for a particular stock trends and anomalies that may not be otherwise be captured by pure technical analysis. This may more accurately detect trade opportunities or limit risks for an existing trade position.
Media annotations may have many uses. For example, high frequency of media annotations may mean that the news event has a significant impact on the stock market, while a low frequency may mean that this news event may have an insignificant impact on the stock market. Alternatively, the media annotations allow users to express positive or negative opinions to a community of users. In general, media annotations may be a quantitative representation of opinions, attitude, or bias for any topic such as an instrument, asset, product, or company.
According to some embodiments of the invention, after selecting the point as the user condition for generating the media indicator, the user may be presented an interface in order to define the indicator and its associated media data.
In some embodiments, the user-defined media indicators may also be publicly shared with a chosen user or community of users and stored. Users with proper permissions granted by the user who originally defined the conditions may also add annotations to the media indicators. All user-defined conditions may be stored in persistent storage on the client-side or server-side.
Furthermore, external media data may be uploaded from a user's client side computer to the shared memory 616. The user may upload video, audio, text, and images, for example, but is not limited to, as external media data. Documents may also be uploaded for the annotation, such as PDF files or Excel spreadsheets. As the external media data, such as videos, is uploaded, the user may also define at least one tag to characterize, or label, the media data that is being uploaded. In this way, a user may also search for media annotations users have defined related to a tag.
While aspects of the invention, including the above described systems and methods, are described in terms of particular embodiments and illustrative figures, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments or figures described. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the operations of the various embodiments may be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof, as appropriate. For example, some processes can be carried out using processors or other digital circuitry under the control of software, firmware, or hard-wired logic. (The term “logic” herein refers to fixed hardware, programmable logic, and/or an appropriate combination thereof, as would be recognized by one skilled in the art to carry out the recited functions.) Software and firmware can be stored on computer-readable media. Some other processes can be implemented using analog circuitry, as is well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Additionally, memory or other storage, as well as communication components, may be employed in embodiments of the invention.
Computing system 800 can also include a main memory 808, for example random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 804. Main memory 808 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 804. Computing system 800 may likewise include a read only memory (“ROM”) or other static storage device coupled to bus 802 for storing static information and instructions for processor 804.
The computing system 800 may also include information storage mechanism 810, which may include, for example, a media drive 812 and a removable storage interface 820. The media drive 812 may include a drive or other mechanism to support fixed or removable storage media, such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a CD or DVD drive (R or RW), or other removable or fixed media drive. Storage media 818 may include, for example, a hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, CD or DVD, or other fixed or removable medium that is read by and written to by media drive 814. As these examples illustrate, the storage media 818 may include a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein particular computer software or data.
In alternative embodiments, information storage mechanism 810 may include other similar instrumentalities for allowing computer programs or other instructions or data to be loaded into computing system 800. Such instrumentalities may include, for example, a removable storage unit 822 and an interface 820, such as a program cartridge and cartridge interface, a removable memory (for example, a flash memory or other removable memory module) and memory slot, and other removable storage units 822 and interfaces 820 that allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit 818 to computing system 800.
Computing system 800 can also include a communications interface 824. Communications interface 824 can be used to allow software and data to be transferred between computing system 800 and external devices. Examples of communications interface 824 can include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet or other NIC card), a communications port (such as for example, a USB port), a PCMCIA slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via communications interface 824 are in the form of signals which can be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, or other signals capable of being received by communications interface 824. These signals are provided to communications interface 824 via a channel 828. This channel 828 may carry signals and may be implemented using a wireless medium, wire or cable, fiber optics, or other communications medium. Some examples of a channel include a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link, a network interface, a local or wide area network, and other communications channels.
In this document, the terms “computer program product” and “computer-readable medium” may be used generally to refer to media such as, for example, memory 808, storage device 818, storage unit 822, or signal(s) on channel 828. These and other forms of computer-readable media may be involved in providing one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 804 for execution. Such instructions, generally referred to as “computer program code” (which may be grouped in the form of computer programs or other groupings), when executed, enable the computing system 800 to perform features or functions of embodiments of the present invention.
In an embodiment where the elements are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer-readable medium and loaded into computing system 800 using, for example, removable storage drive 814, drive 812 or communications interface 824. The control logic (in this example, software instructions or computer program code), when executed by the processor 804, causes the processor 804 to perform the functions of the invention as described herein.
It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the invention with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processors or domains may be used without detracting from the invention. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processors or controllers may be performed by the same processor or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only to be seen as references to suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the claims. Additionally, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the invention. Moreover, aspects of the invention describe in connection with an embodiment may stand alone as an invention.
Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means, elements or method steps may be implemented by, for example, a single unit or processor. Additionally, although individual features may be included in different claims, these may possibly be advantageously combined, and the inclusion in different claims does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. Also, the inclusion of a feature in one category of claims does not imply a limitation to this category, but rather the feature may be equally applicable to other claim categories, as appropriate.
Moreover, it will be appreciated that various modifications and alterations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention is not to be limited by the foregoing illustrative details, but is to be defined according to the claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 11/732,863 filed Apr. 4, 2007, entitled “USER-DEFINED VISUAL INDICATORS ON DYNAMIC CHARTS”, the content of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11732863 | Apr 2007 | US |
| Child | 11903773 | US |
