Visual communications tool

Abstract

A visual communications (VC) tool creating visual arrangements and presenting the visual arrangements to others for feedback and comment in an efficient and secure manner. An author uses the VC tool to generate a folio, storyboard, or presentation, and publishes the generated arrangement to desired recipients. The published arrangement is uploaded to a server once, and a recipient equipped with a copy of the VC tool downloads the arrangement in response to a notification from the server. Thereafter, only changes to the visual arrangement are uploaded to the server and forwarded to the recipient. The recipient may transmit a comment on the visual arrangement back to the author's VC tool. The author's VC tool tracks and automatically correlates all received comments to their respective arrangements, allowing them to be concurrently displayed on a single screen.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 identifying, by a processor, in response to actuation of a first option on a visual communications tool associated with a user, a visual arrangement including one or more images;   storing, by the processor, the visual arrangement in a data storage device;   transmitting, by the processor, a first message to a first recipient, wherein the first message includes a link for accessing the visual arrangement;   transmitting, by the processor, a second message to a second recipient, wherein the second message includes the link for accessing the visual arrangement;   receiving, by the processor, a first actuation of the link in the first message received by the first recipient, and a second actuation of the link in the second message received by the second recipient;   in response to receiving the first and second actuations, causing, by the processor, display of the one or more images on respectively first and second recipient devices, along with display of an input area associated with a particular image of the one or more images;   receiving, by the processor, from the first and second recipients, respectively first and second inputs provided in the input area associated with the particular image displayed on respectively the first and second recipient devices;   after receipt of the first and second inputs by the processor:
 providing, by the processor, a first notification to the user for alerting the user of the first input; 
 causing, by the processor, display of the first input via the visual communications tool associated with the user; 
 providing, by the processor, a second notification to the user for alerting the user of the second input; 
 causing, by the processor, display of the second input via the visual communications tool associated with the user; 
 receiving a request from the first recipient to access the visual arrangement; and 
 in response to receipt of the first request from the first recipient, causing, by the processor, display of the first input on the first recipient device without displaying, on the first recipient device, the second input from the second recipient, 
   wherein the second input is tagged with particular data, wherein in response to the second input being tagged with the particular data, the processor causes the display of the first input on the first recipient device without displaying, on the first recipient device, the second input from the second recipient.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first and second inputs are order amounts of a product depicted in the particular image. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first or second input is on a portion of the visual communications tool separate from a portion of the visual communications tool displaying the one or more images. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the first or second input is displayed in correlation to an identifier of the particular image. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the identifier is at least one of a name or thumbnail image. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 receiving first and second email addresses of respectively the first and second recipients; and 
 addressing the first and second messages respectively to the first and second email addresses. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising, causing, by the processor, display of metadata about a product depicted in the particular image. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first or second input is correlated to the particular image based on a reference identifying the particular image. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first and second messages are generated via an email application. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the email application is integrated with the visual communications tool. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more images are displayed on a web page accessed via a web browser of the first or second recipient devices, wherein the web page is accessed upon actuation of the link in the first or second messages. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the visual communications tool is coupled to the processor over a wide area network. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the visual communications tool is configured to operate in an offline mode without connection to the network, wherein in response to contents of the first and second messages being generated in the offline mode, the contents of the first and second messages are stored in a local storage device of a user device accessible to the user, wherein the contents of the first and second messages are uploaded to the processor in response to detecting connection to the processor. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 after receipt of the first and second inputs by the processor:
 receiving a request from the second recipient to access the visual arrangement; 
 in response to receipt of the second request from the second recipient, causing, by the processor, display of the first and second inputs on the second recipient device. 
 
 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 receiving from the first and second recipients, respectively first and second modifications to the visual arrangement; and 
 in response to the receipt of the first request from the first recipient, causing, by the processor, display of the first and second modifications to the visual arrangement, on the first recipient device. 
 
     
     
         26 . A system comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory, wherein the memory includes instructions that cause the processor to:
 identify, in response to actuation of a first option on a visual communications tool associated with a user, a visual arrangement including a one or more images; 
 store the visual arrangement in a data storage device; 
 transmit a first message to a first recipient, wherein the first message includes a link for accessing the visual arrangement; 
 transmit a second message to a second recipient, wherein the second message includes the link for accessing the visual arrangement; 
 receive a first actuation of the link in the first message received by the first recipient, and a second actuation of the link in the second message received by the second recipient; 
 in response to receiving the first and second actuations, cause display of the one or more images on respectively first and second recipient devices, along with display of an input area associated with a particular image of the one or more images; 
 receive from the first and second recipients, respectively first and second inputs provided in the input area associated with the particular image displayed on respectively the first and second recipient devices; 
 after receipt of the first and second inputs:
 provide a first notification to the user for alerting the user of the first input; 
 cause display of the first input via the visual communications tool associated with the user; 
 provide a second notification to the user for alerting the user of the second input; 
 cause display of the second input via the visual communications tool associated with the user; 
 receive a request from the first recipient to access the visual arrangement; and 
 in response to receipt of the first request from the first recipient, cause display of the first input on the first recipient device without displaying, on the first recipient device, the second input from the second recipient, 
 
   wherein the second input is tagged with particular data, wherein in response to the second input being tagged with the particular data, the instructions further cause the processor to display the first input on the first recipient device without displaying, on the first recipient device, the second input from the second recipient.   
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the first and second inputs are order amounts of a product depicted in the particular image. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the instructions that cause the processor to display the first or second input include instructions that cause the processor to display the first or second input on a portion of the visual communications tool separate from a portion of the visual communications tool displaying the one or more images. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the instructions that cause the processor to display the first or second input include instructions that cause the processor to display the first or second input in correlation to an identifier of the particular image. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the identifier is at least one of a name or thumbnail image.