Automated Content Transformation with Adjustment for Visual Presentation Related to Terminal Types

Abstract

In the ubiquitous environment, mobile terminals like personal digital assistant or cellular phone are used to access the Web. Although the presentation of Web content depends on the terminal type, the Web interface of mobile terminals is designed almost the same as that of personal computers. However, comparing mobile and desktop terminals, some difference in device characteristics, such as screen resolution or sound faithfulness, affect the presentation on the terminal. Moreover, when changing the access style between interactive and passive, the presentation should be adjusted for the terminal type because the lacking information is usually not perceived after transformation. To adjust the play style of Web content to the terminal type, we developed a method for visual presentation. First, using keyword analysis, we represent the emotional aspect of a Web page by adjusting the background color of the screen. Second, we emphasize the subject of the content by the logotype of the keyword. Third, we segment the picture of the content into pieces and present one after another using visual effects. These procedures can be applied to any type of terminal. We implemented the procedures in a ubiquitous/universal passive viewer (u-PaV) system that transforms Web content into passive viewing content that is especially useful for mobile terminals. Extracting images and text from Web content, u-PaV generates a Macromedia Flash file, which is a popular multimedia format.