FORM-2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)
A COLLABORATIVE SYSTEM TO PROVIDE INTERACTIVE
MULTIMEDIA BASED SERVICES PARTICULARLY TO RURAL
AND AGRARIAN COMMUNITIES
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED,
an Indian Company,
of Nirmal Building, 9 floor, Nariman Point,
Mumbai 400 021, Maharashtra, India
The Following Specification Particularly Describes The Invention And The Manner In
Which It Is To Be Performed

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a regional, interactive and collaborative platform for rural and agrarian communities for knowledge acquisition and information dissemination.
DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED IN THE SPECIFICATION
The term 'cascaded user interface' in this specification relates to multimedia based graphical interfaces which provide multiple choices to users and open graphical interfaces as a result of selecting choices on the latter.
The term 'communication device' in this specification relates to wired and wireless devices including mobile phones, business phones, PDAs, desktops, laptops and the like.
The term 'interactive data' in this specification relates to multimedia based data which is provided by the users to use a particular service. For instance, if a user intends to provide information to other users he/she can post a multimedia blog on the platform. In addition, if a user intends to search for a particular agricultural device, he/she can provide an image of the device as 'interactive data' for initiating the search service.
The term 'mode of communication' in this specification relates to the medium used for gaining access to the services provided by the system. Typically, the modes of communication include VoIP, SMS, Voice, Image, Video, GPRS packet data and the like.
The term 'multimedia' in this specification, relates to the various forms of communication that can be used for interacting with the system including text, image, video, speech/ voice and combinations thereof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Even today, the agrarian and rural communities, which constitute a major percentage of a population of any economy, face challenges in terms of education and inefficient digital infrastructure. Hence, these communities are still not conversant in using the Internet for services including collaboration, accessing knowledge, searching for data and gaining latest information.

Their primary means of communication and collaboration, namely telephonic voice calls and personal meetings do not scale up to collaborate with a diversified audience and do not facilitate knowledge acquisition and management.
Moreover, their lack of non-accessibility to rich sources of data provided by the Internet like expert forums, news on reforms, latest research in the agricultural domain and the like, get reflected in the age-old agricultural, animal husbandry practices and other rural practices followed by these communities.
There is therefore felt a need for a collaborative system, which introduces easy to use social and digital mechanisms to help the rural and agrarian communities increase their competitiveness manifold. There is also felt a need for a system, which provides social and digital mechanisms in the regional language of the community in multimedia and intuitive formats to enable the illiterate/ semi-literate rural and agrarian communities use the system and reap its benefits with least external human assistance and training.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a single interface for the rural and agrarian communities to facilitate collaboration and to provide access to various interactive services.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a regional and local language based collaborative system to these communities.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system having a user friendly interface to cater to these illiterate/semi-literate communities.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide localized and personalized information to users.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system, which requires minimum training for its operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention envisages a collaborative system to provide interactive multimedia based services using discrete communication devices, the system comprising the following components:
• a first repository partitioned into discrete verticals to store contents pertaining to at least one interactive multimedia based service;
• a user repository adapted to create discrete workspaces for users to store data including demographic data, user preferences, login credentials and transaction data in a corresponding workspace associated with a user;
• sensing means adapted to sense incoming connection requests from a plurality of discrete communication devices and further adapted to identify the type of communication device and the mode of communication;
• streaming means co-operating with the user repository adapted to receive the sensed type of communication device and the mode of communication and further adapted to initiate a session, select and stream an intuitive multimedia based interface to a corresponding communication device based on the type of communication device, the mode of communication and a user preference;
• selection capturing means adapted to sense selections performed on the intuitive multimedia based interface and further adapted to capture interactive data provided corresponding to a selection and still further adapted to provide a decoded command associated with the selection along with interactive data;
• an execution unit adapted to fetch and process corresponding multimedia based service from the first repository based on the decoded command and interactive data and further adapted to provide processed data and notifications and still further adapted to log the processed data and the interactive data as transaction data in a workspace corresponding to at least one user associated with the decoded command in the user repository; and
• communication means co-operating with the selection capturing means, the execution unit and the user repository adapted to provide a two way asynchronous, multimedia based and multilingual communication channel, the communication means adapted to receive subsequent selections and

interactive data from in-session communication devices and further adapted to transmit processed data and notifications on the intuitive multimedia based interface for a corresponding communication device based on the mode of communication and user preference.
Typically, the mode of communication is selected from the group consisting of voice call and/or text message using Voice over IP and/or Messaging over IP using Internet enabled devices and text, image, voice and video modes using cellular technology based devices.
Preferably, the intuitive multimedia based interface includes a local language based cascaded user interface that presents a plurality of interactive multimedia based services and a plurality of interactive controls for selection, wherein the interactive controls are adapted to provide functionalities for interacting with the multimedia based services selected from the group of controls consisting of navigation controls, audio / video recording controls, playback control and preview control.
In addition, the intuitive multimedia based interface presents the interactive multimedia based services and the interactive controls to users in formats including local language based voice prompts, intuitive graphical icons, local language text and icon based menu/list and combinations thereof based on the predetermined user preferences and the mode of communication.
Further, the selection capturing means is adapted to sense selections including a multimedia based service selection, an interactive control selection and subsequent selections in the session as a unique combination of one or more key press, which are generated using a communication device's navigation and numeric keys.
Still further, the execution unit includes:
• fetching means adapted to fetch at least one corresponding multimedia based service from the first repository in the event that the decoded command includes a multimedia based service selection request;

• processing means adapted to receive a fetched multimedia based service from the fetching means and provide the fetched multimedia based service as processed data for streaming on the intuitive multimedia based interface and further adapted to process the fetched multimedia based service using the decoded command and/or the interactive data and still further adapted to provide processed data and notifications for interaction between a selected multimedia based service, users connected to the selected multimedia based service and the corresponding communication device;
• logging means adapted to store the processed data and the interactive data as transaction data in the user repository in at least one workspace corresponding to at least one user associated with the decoded command; and
• a multimedia search engine co-operating with the first and user repositories adapted to enable rural and agrarian users to provide a search query in various multimedia formats and further adapted to recognize multimedia contents in the search query to fetch data corresponding to the search query from the first repository and the user repository and still further adapted to forward fetched data as processed data to the communication means for transmission on the intuitive multimedia based interface.
Furthermore, the communication means includes:
• conversion means adapted to convert received processed data and notifications to a regional format based on the preference of a user associated with the corresponding communication device and still further adapted to provide converted data;
• second streaming means adapted to compress and stream the converted data for streaming on the corresponding communication device; and
• receiving means adapted to receive and forward subsequent selection and interactive data to the selection capturing means.
Additionally, the communication means facilitates interaction between two users and/or the interactive multimedia based service using formats selected from the group consisting

of multimedia posts, voice recordings, video recordings, text messages, multimedia messages, captured /downloaded images and audio recordings.
Typically, the system includes rendering means adapted to receive the type of communication device data and further adapted to modify the communication channel to resolve compatibility issues.
Preferably, the system still further includes:
• registration means adapted to accept demographic data, preferences and login credentials for a user and further adapted to register the user and still further adapted to create a unique workspace corresponding to the user in the user repository; and
• authentication means co-operating with the user repository and the streaming means adapted to authenticate users based on the login credentials stored in a workspace corresponding to the user to initiate a session in the event that the authentication is successful.
Also, the system includes:
• remote administration interfacing means adapted to provide an administrator remote access to the system for supervision and maintenance; and
• live feed updation means adapted to receive live feeds from predefined sources to update contents of predetermined multimedia based services linked to the predefined sources.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a method for providing collaborative and interactive multimedia based services to communities using discrete communication devices, the method comprises the following steps:
• creating a first repository having discrete verticals for storing contents
pertaining to a plurality of interactive multimedia based services and a user
repository having discrete workspaces for users to store data including
demographic data, user preferences, login credentials and transaction data in a
corresponding workspace associated with a user;

• sensing incoming connection requests from a plurality of discrete communication devices and identifying the type of communication device and the mode of communication;
• inicring a session, selectmg and streaming an intuitive multimedia based' interface to a corresponding communication device based on the type of communication device, the mode of communication and the user preferences;
• sensing selections performed on the intuitive multimedia based interface, capturing interactive data provided corresponding to a selection and providing a decoded command associated with the selection along with interactive data;
• fetching and processing corresponding multimedia based service from the first repository based on the decoded command and the interactive data and providing processed data and notifications; and
• providing a two way asynchronous, multimedia based multilingual communication channel for receiving subsequent selections and subsequent interactive data from in-session communication devices and transmitting the processed data and the notifications on the intuitive multimedia based interface for a corresponding communication device based on the mode of communication and user preferences.
In accordance with this invention, the step of initiating a session, selecting and streaming an intuitive multimedia based interface includes the steps of authenticating a user associated with a communication device, extracting user preferences and selecting an intuitive multimedia, based interface format based on the type of communication device, the mode of communication and the predetermined user preferences in the event that the authentication is successful.
Typically, the step of sensing selections performed on the intuitive multimedia based interface includes the step of sensing the selection as a unique combination of one or more key press which is generated using a communication device's navigation and numeric keys.

Preferably, the step of fetching and processing corresponding multimedia based service includes the step of logging the processed data and the interactive data as transaction data in a workspace corresponding to at least one user associated with the decoded command in the user repository.
Further, the step of transmitting processed data and notifications on the intuitive multimedia based interface for a corresponding communication device includes the steps of converting the processed data to a format based on a user's preference, compressing the processed converted data and streaming the compressed data to a corresponding communication device.
Furthermore, the method includes the steps of accepting a multimedia based search query from users, recognizing the contents of the multimedia based search query, fetching contents from the first repository and the user repository based on recognized contents of the multimedia based search query and transmitting the fetched contents to a corresponding communication device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the accompanying drawings and their description stated below, which is merely illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the invention and does not limit in any way the nature and scope of the invention:
FIGURE 1 illustrates a schematic of the collaborative system to provide interactive multimedia based services to agrarian communities in accordance with the present invention; and
FIGURE 2 is a flowchart showing the steps involved jn providing collaborative and interactive multimedia based services typically to rural and agrarian communities in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The drawings and the description thereto are merely illustrative of a collaborative system to provide interactive multimedia based services to agrarian communities and only exemplify the invention and in no way limit the scope thereof.
An inefficient Internet infrastructure and low literacy levels in rural areas discourage the rural and agrarian communities from harnessing the knowledge, social and economic benefits of using the Internet. In addition, the low literacy levels also make these communities uncomfortable in using desktops and other fnternet ena6fed devices. Thus, to overcome these issues the present invention envisages a collaborative system which merges local language on a user friendly intuitive multimedia based interface and enables agrarian users to receive, exchange or provide information in the multimedia format.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the system provides a plurality of interactive services which enables users to perform activities including gaining information typically about best practices suitable for their area and commercial information, reading news of their area, browsing through local train and bus time-tables, perusing banks details in their area, playing knowledge based games, conducting m-commerce transactions on virtual stores and the like.
In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, the system enables the users to access these services using a communication device, which is at least one of a mobile phone, a desktop, a laptop and the like. Further, the system enables the users to Use communication technologies including voice call, text message, multimedia message, VoIP, GPRS or the like which are associated with the communication device.
Also, the proposed system in accordance with this invention has intelligent processing techniques to recognize discrete communication devices and communication technologies to enable users to access the system with ease and efficiency across the devices and the technologies.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the system eliminates the restriction of having only text based or icon based interfaces. Along with the choice of

using text based and icon based interfaces, the proposed system enables users to access the system using other interfaces like local language based voice prompts and/or video interfaces which are beneficial to semi-literate and illiterate users and increase their comfort level with the system.
Further, the system provides a flexible multimedia-based social networking service, which enables users to converse in text, voice, video or image formats with other users. Also, the multimedia-based social networking service enables users to browse and listen to received or past conversations at their convenience. Also, the multimedia-based social networking service enables the users to retrieve and access an entire thread of conversations which has occurred between users.
The system includes various language processing tools and multimedia based tools which enable the present invention to recognize multilingual speech and multimedia based multilingual content to facilitate in operation of the present invention as well as to log the communication and prepare a searchable knowledge base.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the system provides a multimedia based search engine, which enables users to search the knowledge base or the contents collated by the proposed system using multimedia formats including text, speech, video or image.
Moreover, the proposed system includes communication device compatibility provisions to ensure that the multimedia based features of the present invention are compatible with any communication device.
Thus, the present invention aims at providing a collaborative platform for knowledge acquisition and information sharing through a plurality of services. These services keep the rural and agrarian communities abreast of the latest local happenings and other pieces of vital day to day information like transportation schedules, weather forecast and news. Moreover, these services also enable the communities staying particularly in rural areas to discuss their issues with experts or other member users, share their experiences, search for particular information, transact business using their local language based voice

enabled interfaces. Voice as a medium of communication and operation enables these communities to interact with the system in their local language without worrying about typing text and the subsequent typographic and grammatical errors. Also, the users can express emotions easily and provide more information when speaking in their local language, which in turn facilitates in creation of a good knowledge sharing platform.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a block diagram of the system 100 that provides a collaborative platform to give access to interactive multimedia based services to rural and agrarian communities. The rural and agrarian communities include the population staying in the rural areas, hill areas, coastal areas, forest areas having typically low literacy levels and who are involved in occupations like agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dealing with forest produce and the like for their living. These communities can access the system using discrete communication devices 101, which include VoIP enabled devices, cellular technology based mobile phones and mobile phones embedded with the proposed system and emulating client-server architecture. The system includes a set of predetermined unique identifiers for enabling users to connect and avail these services. These unique identifiers can be selected from the group consisting of a unique toll free telephone/mobile number, Short code based number for dialing and messaging, a web address and the like.
The system 100 comprises registration means 102 which on a first connection attempt with the present invention enables users to register themselves by providing their demographic details, preferences and login credentials. The preferences typically include choice of language and choice of interface that is, voice based or video based or text menu based or graphical icon based or the like. On successful registration, the registration means 102 creates a unique workspace for a corresponding user and stores the registered demographic details, the preferences and the login credentials in a user repository 104 in a corresponding workspace. The user repository 104 in addition to the details received during registration, also stores transaction data for a user. The transaction data can include the services accessed by the user, the messages received /sent, expert advice received, and the like data. The transaction data stored in the user repository is preferably indexed based on the type of service to facilitate easy retrieval.

Further, in accordance with this invention, when a user attempts to connect with the system 100 using any one of the communication devices 101, sensing means 108 senses the incoming connection request. In addition, the sensing means 108 recognizes the type of communication device and the mode of communication used for raising the request. The type of communication device is one of at least a landline, an Internet enabled gadget, a mobile phone, a laptop, a desktop and the like and mode of communication is one of at least a text message, a voice call, a multimedia message, data transmitted over a phone call, packet data via GPRS, Voice over IP, Message over IP and the like.
On sensing an incoming connection request, the sensing means 108 notifies authentication means 110 which requests the user for his/her login credentials and authenticates the same with the login credentials stored in the user repository 102. Streaming means 112 on successfully authentication of a user streams an intuitive multimedia based interface to the corresponding communication device based on the sensed mode of communication, the type of communication device and the user preference.
The intuitive multimedia interface provides users with a plurality of interactive multimedia services and interactive controls for providing functionalities for interacting with the multimedia based services, which assist them in their daily activities. Further, the intuitive multimedia based interface presents interactive multimedia based services and interactive controls to users in formats including local language based voice prompts, intuitive graphical icons, local language text based menu/list and combinations thereof.
The type of multimedia interface is selected by the streaming means 112 based on the mode of communication, for instance if an agrarian user raises a connection request using a voice call from a mobile phone then the sensing means 108 identifies the mode of communication as a voice call and type of communication device as mobile phone and accordingly the streaming means 112 streams a voice prompt type of local language interface to the corresponding communication device. Further, based on the details in the user repository 102 like the preferences and location of a user, the streaming means 112

selects a local language and regional settings for initiating a session. Similarly, if the mode of communication is cellular phone based text message then the streaming means 112 based on user preferences will stream a local language and intuitive graphical icon based interface with local language voice prompts on the corresponding communication device.
The interactive controls are provided as a part of the multimedia based interface to facilitate the users to use the multimedia based services effectively. The interactive controls include navigation controls, audio / video recording controls, playback control and preview control. For instance, the audio/video recording control enables the user to record a video or image for posting on the social networking service or for providing to the search service for searching information.
The intuitive interface is designed in such a way that semi-literate or illiterate users can maneuver the interface with minimum peer assistance or training. Being intuitive in nature the interface enables agrarian users to easily select and access the desired multimedia based services and their facilities.
The system 100 also includes a first repository 106 which stores a plurality of interactive multimedia based services and their related data and interfaces. These services- include Social Networking service, Knowledge Sharing service, Content based Search service, Expert Forum service, Weather Forecast service, News service, Virtual Store service, e-Banking service, Transportation Schedule and booking service, e-Learning via typically m-Wiki, m-Commerce and the like.
In addition to providing a knowledge acquisition and a social networking platform these services also provide a multimedia knowledge gallery which gives information on best rural occupational practices. In addition, this platform also provides commercial information, localized and personalized news, local train and bus timetable, access to banks details, m-Commerce and knowledge based games.
Using the intuitive interface the users can select any of the multimedia based services, interactive controls and subsequent selection of sub functions of a service as well as

provide any interactive data required for the services. The selections on the intuitive interface are sensed by selection capturing means 114 as a unique combination of one or more key presses, which are generated typically using a communication device's navigation and numeric keys. These key presses sensed by the selection capturing means 114 are provided as decoded commands which correspond to at least one selection from a multimedia based service selection, an interactive control selection and a subsequent selection. Along with these selections, the selection capturing means 114 also captures interactive data, which is provided by users to use the facilities provided by the services.
In accordance with this invention, the subsequent selections typically include the unique key press corresponding to sub functions provided by a particular interactive multimedia based service. For instance, if the interactive multimedia based service is 'Social Networking' then subsequent selections may correspond to sending a new message, reading a received message or creating a new multimedia post. While creating a new multimedia post, the user is prompted to associate the multimedia post with at least one keyword which relates to the data contained in the multimedia post. The keyword associated with multimedia posts can be used by the user as search strings for the purpose of searching for a particular multimedia post. Subsequent selections may also include key press combinations corresponding to a change in or selection of another interactive multimedia based service in the same session. Further, the interactive data can include communication between the interactive multimedia based service and the user. For instonce if a subsequent selection corresponds to sending a query to an expert using the expert forum service then the interactive data may include a video recording created by a user to capture his query.
Further, the decoded command corresponding to a selection is forwarded to an execution unit 116 which is communicably coupled to the first repository 106 to process the selected multimedia based service. The execution unit 116 includes fetching means 118 which fetches a corresponding multimedia based service from the first repository 106 in the event that the decoded command includes a multimedia based service selection request. The fetching means 118 provides the fetched multimedia based service to processing means 120. The processing means 120 receives the fetched multimedia based

service and provides it as processed data for streaming on the intuitive multimedia based interface for users.
The processing means 120 also receives subsequent selections and interactive control selection requests as decoded commands along with related interactive data and processes it to provide processed data and notifications. The processing involves data operations like updation, retrieval, extraction and the like. For instance, if a decoded command contains a request for playback of a particular news bulletin from the news service, then the processing means 120 retrieves the news bulletin for the submitted criteria which is captured as a part of the interactive data and provides it as processed information for streaming.
Likewise, for instance, if a decoded command includes a social networking service request and subsequent selection includes 'posting a message' request for a particular user, then the selection capturing means 114 provides a decoded command for this subsequent selection request along with the user name and the captured multimedia message as interactive data; the processing means 120 receives and processes this decoded command by updating the message to a workspace associated with the designated user name and linking the message to the social networking service. This message can be retrieved by the designated user when he/she accesses the social networking service at his/her convenience.
Moreover, notifications are generated by the processing means 120 by periodically checking the user repository 102 for unread data. These notifications are generated to inform users associated with a communication device, of any new message or update in their corresponding workspace which has not been retrieved by them.
The execution unit 116 performs auto logging by storing the processed data and the interactive data as transaction data in a workspace linked with users associated with a decoded command via logging means 122. Thus, the first repository 106 and the user repository together make a rich knowledge base which can be used for searching information. The execution unit 116 further includes a multimedia based search engine

124 which accepts multimedia based queries from users and processes the same to fetch data from the first repository 106 and the user repository 102 and provides the data to a corresponding user in the desired format. The multimedia based search engine 124 makes use of the augmented reality (AR) technology to recognize the data stored in the first repository 106 and the user repository 102, and the label associated with the data. The multimedia based search engine 124 makes use of the label associated with the data as one of the keywords for querying the first repository 106 and user repository 102. The multimedia based search engine 124 subsequently provides the data that best fits the keyword in the desired format to the user.
The search engine 124 includes language translators and image processing tools which enable the search engine 124 to recognize transaction data in formats including text, voice, video and image. Based on the recognized data, the search engine looks up and fetches the relevant results from the repositories 102 and 106. The search engine 124 forwards the fetched data for transmission to an intuitive multimedia based interface on a corresponding communication device based on the mode of communication.
The system 100 also includes a communication means 126 which co-operates with the selection capturing means 114, the execution unit 116 and the user repository 102 to provide a two way asynchronous, multimedia based multilingual communication channel to facilitate communication between the system and the users. The communication means 126 receives subsequent selection and interaction data from a plurality of communication devices and forwards it to the selection capturing means 114. Also, the communication means 126 streams processed data and notifications based on the mode of communication to the corresponding communication device.
The communication means 126 includes the following components which facilitate communication between the system and the communication devices:
• conversion means 128 which includes language translators, text to speech converters and image processing tools to convert the processed data received from execution unit 116 to a format based on a preference of a user associated with a corresponding communication device. The conversion is performed

based on the type of communication device, mode of communication and the user's preferences and is provided as converted data for transmission;
• second streaming means 130 compresses the converted data using predetermined compression techniques and streams the converted data on the multimedia based intuitive interface of the corresponding communication device. Compression is performed to reduce network overload and increase the response time of the system; and
• receiving means 132 to receive and forward subsequent selection of a multimedia based service and its subsequent selection and interaction with the selection capturing means 114.
Moreover, the communication means 126 facilitates interaction between two users and/or the interactive multimedia based service using formats selected from the group consisting of multimedia posts, voice recordings, video recordings, text messages, multimedia messages, captured /downloaded images and audio recordings.
The system 100 includes rendering means 134 which, based on the identified communication device type by the sensing means 108, modifies the communication channel to resolve compatibility issues. For instance, if the communication device is of cellular type and the device does not include a runtime environment for supporting interactive multimedia based data, then the rendering means 134 modifies the converted data to make it compatible with the corresponding communication device so that the multimedia based service does not appear distorted on the display of the cellular communication device.
Also, the system includes remote administration interfacing means 136 which provides an administrator remote access to the system for supervision and maintenance. And, the system also includes live feed updation means (not shown in the figures) which receives live feeds from predefined sources to update contents of predetermined multimedia based services in the first repository 106 linked to the predefined sources.

Referring to FIGURE 2, there is provided a method for providing collaborative and interactive multimedia based services typically to rural and agrarian communities using discrete communication devices, the method comprising the following steps as seen in FIGURE 2:
• creating a first repository having discrete verticals for storing contents pertaining to a plurality of interactive multimedia based services and a user repository having discrete workspaces for users to store data including demographic data, user preferences, login credentials and transaction data in a corresponding workspace associated with a user, 1000;
• sensing incoming connection requests from a plurality of discrete communication devices and identifying the type of communication device and the mode of communication, 1002;
• initiating a session, selecting and streaming an intuitive multimedia based interface to a corresponding communication device based on the type of communication device, the mode of communication and the user preference, 1004;
• sensing selections performed on the intuitive multimedia based interface, capturing interactive data provided corresponding to a selection and providing a decoded command associated with the selection along with the interactive data, 1006;
• fetching and processing corresponding multimedia based service from the first repository based on the decoded command and the interactive data and providing processed data and notifications, 1008; and
• providing a two way asynchronous, multimedia based multilingual communication channel for receiving subsequent selections and subsequent interactive data from m-session communication devices and transmitting the processed data and the notifications on the intuitive multimedia based interface for a corresponding communication device based on the mode of communication and the user preference, 1010.

In accordance with this invention, the step of initiating a session, selecting and streaming an intuitive multimedia based interface includes the steps of authenticating the user associated with the communication device, extracting user preferences and selecting an intuitive multimedia based interface format based on the type of communication device, the mode of communication and the predetermined user preferences in the event that the authentication is successful.
Typically, the step of sensing selections performed on the intuitive multimedia based interface includes the step of sensing the selection as a unique combination of one or more key presses which is generated using a communication device's navigation and numeric keys.
Preferably, the step of fetching and processing corresponding multimedia based service includes the step of logging the processed data and the interactive data as transaction data in a workspace corresponding to at least one user associated with the decoded command in the user repository.
Further, the step of transmitting the processed data and the notifications on the intuitive multimedia based interface for a corresponding communication device includes the steps of converting the processed data to a format based on a user's preference, compressing the converted data and streaming the compressed data to an intuitive multimedia based interface on a corresponding communication device.
Furthermore, the method includes the steps of accepting a multimedia based search query from users, recognizing the contents of the multimedia based search query, fetching contents from the first repository and the user repository based on recognized contents of the multimedia based search query and transmitting the fetched contents to a corresponding communication device.
TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES
The technical advantages of the present invention include providing a collaborative system to give access to interactive multimedia based services particularly to rural and

agrarian communities. The system provides a single platform to these communities to access multimedia based services.
The system can be accessed by these communities using any one of the existing communication devices including landlines, mobile phones, desktops, laptops and the like. Further, based on the communication device the system provides a local language based intuitive interface for easy maneuvering for semi or illiterate users.
In addition, to its user friendliness the system enables these communities via the interactive multimedia based services to collaborate to exchange information, discuss issues, get expert advice and gain access to various services like news, local transportation timetables, weather forecasts, new government reforms, new agricultural or native occupation based techniques and advancements and the like information which is particularly beneficial for these communities.
Additionally, the system provides virtual stores via the interactive multimedia services to enable users to carry out m-commerce operations.
Further, the system auto archives exchanged information or the information users in these communities seek from the experts. The archived information is collated to provide a knowledge base which can be used by the community for getting information on their queries or for searching for desired information.
Still further, the system enables users to access the system services using their local language based text, image, video or voice. The system also provides a search engine which accepts local language based search commands in the form of text, video, audio and speech to retrieved results.
Thus, the proposed system assists users in the community in their daily activities to help them connect with other users, get latest updates, exchange information and purchase products/services in their local language and with ease. Furthermore, restrictions of accessing the system using a particular type of communication device is eliminated hence users can access the system with their existing communication devices with equivalent

level of comfort, convenience and efficiency as with other communication devices. Thus, the system leads to the overall progress and development of the rural masses and makes them up to date with the local happenings and trends.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

We Claim:
1. A collaborative system to provide interactive multimedia based services using discrete communication devices, said system comprising:
• a first repository partitioned into discrete verticals to store contents pertaining to a plurality of interactive multimedia based services;
• a user repository adapted to create discrete workspaces for users to store data including demographic data, user preferences, login credentials and transaction data in a corresponding workspace associated with a user;
• sensing means adapted to sense incoming connection requests from a plurality of discrete communication devices and further adapted to identify the type of communication device and the mode of communication;
• streaming means co-operating with said user repository adapted to receive said type of communication device and said mode of communication and further adapted to initiate a session, select and stream an intuitive multimedia based interface to a corresponding communication device based on said type of communication device, said mode of Communication and said user preferences;
• selection capturing means adapted to sense selections performed on said intuitive multimedia based interface and further adapted to capture interactive data provided corresponding to a selection and still further adapted to provide a decoded command associated with said selection along with said interactive data;
• an execution unit adapted to fetch and process corresponding multimedia based service from said first repository based on said decoded command and interactive data and further adapted to provide processed data and notifications and still further adapted to log said processed data and said interactive data as transaction data in a workspace corresponding to at least one user associated with said decoded command in said user repository; and
• communication means co-operating with said Selection capturing means, said execution unit and said user repository adapted to provide a two way asynchronous, multimedia based multilingual communication channel, said

communication means adapted to receive subsequent selections and interactive data from in-session communication devices and further adapted to transmit said processed data and said notifications on said intuitive multimedia based interface for a corresponding communication device based on said mode of communication and said user preferences,
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mode of communication is selected from the group consisting of voice call and/or text message using Voice over IP and/or Messaging over IP using Internet enabled devices and text, image, voice and video modes using cellular technology based devices.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said intuitive multimedia based interface includes a local language based cascaded user interface presenting a plurality of interactive multimedia based services and a plurality of interactive controls for selection, wherein said interactive controls are adapted to provide functionalities for interacting with said multimedia based services selected from the group of controls consisting of navigation controls, audio / video recording controls, playback control and preview control.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1 and 3, wherein said intuitive multimedia based interface presents said interactive multimedia based services and said interactive controls to users in formats including local language based voice prompts, intuitive graphical icons, local language text based menu/list and combinations thereof.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1 and 3, wherein said selection capturing means is adapted to sense selections including a multimedia based service selection, an interactive control selection and subsequent selections in said session as a unique combination of one or more key presses which are generated using a communication device's navigation and numeric keys.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said execution unit further includes;
• fetching means adapted to fetch a corresponding multimedia based service from said first repository in the event that the decoded command includes a multimedia based service selection request;
• processing means adapted to receive a fetched multimedia based service from said fetching means and provide said fetched multimedia based service as processed data for streaming on said intuitive multimedia based interface and further adapted to process said fetched multimedia based service using said decoded command and/or said interactive data and still further adapted to provide processed data and notifications for interaction between a selected multimedia based service, other users connected to said selected multimedia based service and said corresponding communication device;
• logging means adapted to store said processed data and said interactive data as transaction data in said user repository in at least one workspace corresponding to at least one user associated with said decoded command; and
• a multimedia search engine co-operating with said first and user repositories adapted to enable rural and agrarian users to provide a search query in various multimedia formats and further adapted to recognize multimedia contents in said search query to fetch data corresponding to said search query from said first repository and said user repository and still further adapted to forward fetched data as processed data to said communication means for transmission on said intuitive multimedia based interface.
7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communication means includes:
• conversion means adapted to convert received processed data and notifications to a regional format based on the preference of a user associated with said corresponding communication device and still further adapted to provide converted data;
• second streaming means adapted to compress and stream said converted data for streaming on said corresponding communication device; and

• receiving means adapted to receive and forward subsequent selection and
interactive data to said selection capturing means.
8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communication means facilitates interaction between two users and/or said interactive multimedia based service using formats selected from the group consisting of multimedia posts, voice recordings, video recordings, text messages, multimedia messages, captured /downloaded images and audio recordings.
9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system includes rendering means adapted to receive said type of communication device data and further adapted to modify said communication channel to resolve compatibility issues.
10. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system still further includes:

• registration means adapted to accept demographic data, preferences and login credentials for a user and further adapted to register said user and still further adapted to create a unique workspace corresponding to said user in said user repository; and
• authentication means co-operating with said user repository and said streaming means adapted to authenticate users based on said login credentials stored in a workspace corresponding to said user to initiate a session in the event that the authentication is successful.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system includes remote administration interfacing means adapted to provide an administrator remote access to said system for supervision and maintenance.
12. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system comprising live feed updation means co-operating with said first repository adapted to receive live feeds from predefined sources to update contents of predetermined multimedia based services linked to said predefined sources.

13. A method for providing collaborative and interactive multimedia based services using discrete communication devices, said method comprising the following steps:
• creating a first repository having discrete verticals for storing contents pertaining to a plurality of interactive multimedia based services and a user repository having discrete workspaces for users to store data including demographic data, user preferences, login credentials and transaction data in a corresponding workspace associated with a user;
• sensing incoming connection requests from a plurality of discrete communication devices and identifying the type of communication device and the mode of communication;
• initiating a session, selecting and streaming an intuitive multimedia based interface to a corresponding communication device based on said type of communication device, said mode of communication and said user preferences;
• sensing selections performed on said intuitive multimedia based interface, capturing interactive data provided corresponding to a selection and providing a decoded command associated with said selection along with said interactive data;
• fetching and processing corresponding multimedia based service from said first repository based on said decoded command and said interactive data and providing processed data and notifications; and
• providing a two way asynchronous, multimedia based multilingual communication channel for receiving subsequent selections and subsequent interactive data from in-session communication devices and transmitting said processed data and said notifications on said intuitive multimedia based interface for a corresponding communication device based on said mode of communication and predetermined user preferences.
14.The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the step of initiating a session, selecting and streaming an intuitive multimedia based interface includes the steps of authenticating the user associated with the communication device, extracting user

preferences and selecting an intuitive multimedia based interface format based on said type of communication device, said mode of communication and said user preferences.
15. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the step of sensing selections performed on said intuitive multimedia based interface includes the step of sensing said selection as a unique combination of one or more key presses which is generated using a communication device's navigation and numeric keys.
16.The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the step of fetching and processing corresponding multimedia based service includes the step of logging said processed data and said interactive data as transaction data in a workspace corresponding to al least one user associated with said decoded command in said user repository.
17. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the step of transmitting said processed data and said notifications on said intuitive multimedia based interface for a corresponding communication device includes the steps of converting said processed data to a format based on said user preferences, compressing the processed converted data and streaming the compressed data to said corresponding communication device.
18.The method as claimed in claim 13. wherein the method further includes the steps of accepting a multimedia based search query from users, recognizing the contents of said multimedia based search query, fetching contents from said first repository and said user repository based on recognized contents of said multimedia based search query and transmitting the fetched contents to a corresponding communication device.