Content matching system for a networked media player

• US 10,182,308 B2
• Filed: 04/03/2014
• Issued: 01/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Bennion, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Parry, Chris
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chouat, Abderrahmen
• Application Number:
  US14/244,306
• Publication Number:
  US 20150264159A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,748 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1455, 705 1451, 705 1444, 705 1464, 705 1458, 705 1466, 705 267, 705347, 705 1413, 705 1423, 705 1425, 705 1436, 705 144, 705 1453, 705 1454, 705 1463, 705 1468, 705 1469, 705 2641, 709219, 709203, 709204, 709206, 709224, 709202, 709225, 709230, 725 25, 725 14, 725 34, 725 10, 725114, 725119, 725 12, 725134, 725 21, 725 31, 725 32, 725 37, 725 43, 725 45, 725 68, 725 71, 725 82, 707E17014, 707E17044, 707770, 707E17001, 707E17009, 707E17101, 707736, 707737, 707747, 707748, 707758
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Embodiments of a content selection system are disclosed, wherein the system is configured to obtain location information from a plurality of computing devices. The content selection system identifies a selection of computing devices that are within a set distance (e.g., within viewing and/or listening distance) from a networked, media playback device. The content selection system determines media content preferences of users associated with the selection of computing devices. The content selection system select a first media content for playback on the networked media player based at least partly on the media content preferences of the users.

Claims

1. A system for selecting media content for playback on a networked media player communicatively connected to a local network, the system comprising:

one or more processors on a server configured to facilitate interoperability between devices communicatively connected to different communication networks, the one or more processors configured to;

initiate data requests over one or more communication networks that occur at least partially in parallel, the data requests comprising;

a first data request to obtain location information of the networked media player communicatively connected to the local network; and

one or more additional data requests to obtain location information and streaming service account information from one or more computing devices communicatively connected to one or more networks different from the local network;

identify a group of computing devices that are within a viewing distance or a listening distance from the networked media player based on the obtained location information from the one or more computing devices and from the networked media player, wherein a first computing device of the group of computing devices cannot directly communicate with the networked media player without reconfiguration;

communicate, over the one or more communication networks, with one or more streaming services with associated recommendation systems to obtain media content preferences of a group of users associated with the obtained streaming service account information;

determine whether there is matching media content in playlists of the group of users;

in response to determining that there is no matching media content in the playlists, select a first media content for playback on the networked media player based at least partly on matching recommendations of a plurality of recommendations generated by the recommendation systems associated with the one or more streaming services; and

provide the selected first media content to the networked media player.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the networked media player comprises at least one of a speaker system, a television, or a streaming device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing devices comprise at least one of a smart phone, a wearable computing device, or a tablet.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the location information comprises at least one of Wi-Fi data, Cell ID, or GPS data.

5. The system of claim 1,

wherein selecting the first media content comprises identifying overlaps in the media content preferences of the group of users.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein obtaining the media content preferences of the group of users comprises:

accessing streaming service accounts for each user of the group of users; and

obtaining the media content preferences stored by the streaming service accounts.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the viewing distance or the listening distance comprises a distance at which the group of users are able to interact with the networked media player.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the media content preferences comprise at least one of media playback history of playlists.

9. A method for selecting media content for playback on a networked media player communicatively connected to a local network, the method comprising:

on a server configured to facilitate interoperability between devices communicatively connected to different communication networks, initiating data requests over one or more communication networks that occur at least partially in parallel, the data requests comprising;

a first data request to obtain location information of the networked media player communicatively connected to the local network; and

one or more additional data requests to obtain location information and streaming service account information from one or more computing devices communicatively connected to one or more networks different from the local network;

identifying, on the server, a group of computing devices that are within a viewing distance or a listening distance from the networked media player based on the obtained location information from the one or more computing devices and from the networked media player, wherein a first computing device of the group of computing devices cannot directly communicate with the networked media player without reconfiguration;

communicating, over the one or more communication networks, with one or more streaming services with associated recommendation systems to obtain media content preferences of a group of users associated with the obtained streaming service account information;

determining whether there is matching media content in playlists of the group of users;

in response to determining that there is no matching media content in the playlists, selecting a first media content for playback on the networked media player based at least partly on matching recommendations of a plurality of recommendations generated by the recommendation systems associated with the one or more streaming services; and

providing the selected first media content to the networked media player.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the networked media player comprises at least one of a speaker system, a television, or a streaming device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the computing devices comprise at least one of a smart phone, a wearable computing device, or a tablet.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the location information comprises at least one of Wi-Fi data, Cell ID, or GPS data.

13. The method of claim 9,

wherein selecting the first media content comprises identifying overlaps in the media content preferences of the group of users.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein obtaining the media content preferences of the group of users comprises:

accessing streaming service accounts for each user of the group of users; and

obtaining the media content preferences stored by the streaming service accounts.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the media content preferences comprise at least one of media playback history or playlists.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a processor on a server configured to facilitate interoperability between devices communicatively connected to different communication networks, instruct the processor to execute steps comprising:

initiating data requests over one or more communication networks that occur at least partially in parallel, the data requests comprising;

a first data request to obtain location information of a networked media player communicatively connected to a local network; and

one or more additional data requests to obtain location information and streaming service account information from one or more computing devices communicatively connected to one or more networks different from the local network;

identifying a group of computing devices that are within a viewing distance or a listening distance from the networked media player based on the obtained location information from the one or more computing devices and from the networked media player, wherein a first computing device of the group of computing devices cannot directly communicate with the networked media player without reconfiguration;

communicating, over the one or more communication networks, with one or more streaming services with associated recommendation systems to obtain media content preferences of a group of users associated with the obtained streaming service account information;

determining whether there is matching media content in playlists of the group of users;

in response to determining that there is no matching media content in the playlists, selecting a first media content for playback on the networked media player based at least partly on matching recommendations of a plurality of recommendations generated by the recommendation systems associated with the one or more streaming services; and

providing the selected first media content to the networked media player.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the networked media player comprises at least one of a speaker system, a television, or a streaming device.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the location information comprises at least one of Wi-Fi data, Cell ID, or GPS data.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16,

wherein selecting the first media content comprises identifying overlaps in the media content preferences of the group of users.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein obtaining the media content preferences of the group of users comprises:

accessing streaming service accounts for each user of the group of users; and

obtaining the media content preferences stored by the streaming service accounts.