Methods and apparatus to determine engagement levels of audience members

• US 10,171,869 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2016
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Terrazas, Alejandro
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Rong
• Application Number:
  US15/206,932
• Publication Number:
  US 20160323640A1
• Time in Patent Office: 904 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44218 Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44231 Monitoring of peripheral device or external card, e.g. to detect processing problems in a handheld device or the failure of an external recording device configuring of peripheral devices in general G06F9/4411; reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network H04L12/2823; monitoring the status of connected device in data switched networks H04L43/0817

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to determine engagement levels of audience members are disclosed. An example method includes capturing, with a sensor, image data depicting an environment in which a first media device is to present media. Analyzing the image data to determine whether the environment includes a second media device emanating a glow. When the environment includes the second media device emanating the glow, calculating an engagement for a person in the environment with respect to the first media device, the engagement being calculated based on a characteristic of the second media device emanating the glow.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

capturing, with a sensor, image data depicting an environment in which a first media device is to present media;

analyzing, by executing an instruction with a processor, the image data to determine whether the environment includes a second media device emanating a glow; and

when the environment includes the second media device emanating the glow, calculating, by executing an instruction with the processor, an engagement for a person in the environment with respect to the first media device, the engagement being calculated based on a distance between the person and the second media device emanating the glow.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, further including detecting a change in the glow over a period of time.

3. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the engagement is further calculated based on the detected change in the glow.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the sensor is separate from the first media device and the second media device.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, further including:

detecting media identifying information associated with the first media device; and

associating the media identifying information with the calculated engagement.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first media device is a stationary device located in the environment, and the second media device is a portable device.

7. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

access image data captured by a sensor, the image data depicting an environment in which a first media device is to present media;

analyze the image data to determine whether the environment includes a second media device emanating a glow; and

when the environment includes the second media device emanating the glow, calculate an amount of attention paid by a person in the environment to the first media device, the amount of attention to be calculated based on a distance between the person and the second media device emanating the glow.

8. The storage medium as defined in claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to detect a change in the glow over a period of time.

9. The storage medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to further calculate the amount of attention paid by the person based on the detected change in the glow.

10. The storage medium as defined in claim 7, wherein the sensor is separate from the first media device and the second media device.

11. The storage medium as defined in claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to:

gather media identifying information associated with the first media device; and

associate the media identifying information with the calculated engagement.

12. The storage medium as defined in claim 7, wherein the first media device is a stationary device located in the environment, and the second media device is a portable device.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

a detector to analyze image data depicting an environment in which media is to be presented by a first media device to determine whether the environment includes a second media device emanating a glow, the image data captured with a sensor; and

a calculator to determine an engagement for a person in the environment with respect to the first media device, the calculator to determine the engagement based on a distance between the person and the second media device emanating the glow.

14. The apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the detector is to detect a change in the glow over a period of time.

15. The apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein the calculator is to further determine the engagement for the person based on the detected change in the glow.

16. The apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the sensor is separate from the first media device and the second media device.

17. The apparatus as defined in claim 13, further including a media detector to collect media identifying information to associate with the calculated engagement.

18. The apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the first media device is a stationary device located in the environment, and the second media device is a portable device.