Electronic commerce functionality in video overlays

• US 10,547,909 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2018
• Issued: 01/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Taylor, Amber Autrey, Kessel, Steven, Mellott, Daniel Thomas, Mills, Brent Robert, Walsh, Liza Marie
• Primary Examiner(s): Rabovianski, Jivka A
• Application Number:
  US16/004,693
• Publication Number:
  US 20180295424A1
• Time in Patent Office: 596 Days
• Field of Search: 725 32, 725 51, 725 60, 725 61
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2187 Live feed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23418 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2358 for generating different versions, e.g. for different recipient devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2542 for selling goods, e.g. TV shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for providing interactive electronic commerce functionality via graphical overlays on live streaming video. An indication is received that an item is featured or discussed in a live video stream. The live video stream is sent to a client. Data encoding a selectable graphical overlay is sent to the client in response to the indication. The selectable graphical overlay is configured to be rendered by the client relative to the live video stream. A selection of the selectable graphical overlay is configured to perform an interactive function relative to the item.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a first computing device; and

at least one application executable in the first computing device, wherein, when executed, the at least one application causes the first computing device to at least;

render a user interface comprising the video stream via a display of the first computing device;

receive data encoding a graphical overlay from the second computing device, the graphical overlay comprising a selectable component configured to facilitate performance of an interactive function associated with an item displayed via the video stream, the interactive function comprising at least one of;

casting a vote relative to the item, requesting an item detail page, or a selection of a particular version of the item from a plurality of versions;

receive an indication of a graphical position of the item as displayed in the video stream from the second computing device, the graphical position being based at least in part on at least one coordinate of an approximate position of the particular item supplied by a third computing device;

render the graphical overlay over a portion of the video stream based at least in part on the graphical position of the item as displayed in the video stream;

identify a selection of the selectable component in the graphical overlay; and

initiate performance of the interactive function in response to the selection.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein, when executed, the at least one application causes the first computing device to at least receive user interface code from the second computing device, the user interface code being configured to implement the user interface for rendering the video stream.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein, when executed, the at least one application causes the first computing device to at least:

determine that the item is currently being discussed in the video stream.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein determining that the item is currently being discussed comprises receiving an indication from the third computing device.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein determining that the item is currently being discussed comprises receiving segment metadata from the second computing device, the segment metadata comprising a time-based association with the item and the video stream.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the video stream depicts a host discussing a plurality of items.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein an area of the graphical overlay corresponds to a geometric shape to be superimposed over the graphical position of the item.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface further comprises a timeline user interface, the timeline user interface comprising a subset of items being discussed during a particular segment of the video stream, and when executed, the at least one application causes the first computing device to at least:

adjust a viewport of the timeline user interface to show a different portion of the timeline user interface corresponding to a different segment of the video stream.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein, when executed, the at least one application causes the first computing device to at least:

receive a user gesture relative to the timeline user interface, the user gesture comprising at least one of a scrolling gesture, a swiping gesture, or a selection gesture; and

wherein the viewport is adjusted in response to receiving the user gesture.

10. A method, comprising:

transmitting, via at least one first computing device, a video stream to a client, the video stream depicting a host discussing a plurality of items;

determining, via the at least one first computing device, a graphical position in a frame of the video stream at which a particular item of the plurality of items appears based at least in part on receiving at least one coordinate of an approximate position of the particular item from a second computing device;

generating, via the at least one first computing device, data encoding a graphical overlay configured to be rendered relative to the graphical position of the particular item, the graphical overlay being configured to be superimposed over the graphical position of the particular item in the video stream;

transmitting, via the at least one first computing device, the data encoding the graphical overlay to the client;

receiving, via the at least one first computing device, a selection of the graphical overlay, the selection comprising a request to perform an interactive function comprising at least one of;

casting a vote relative to the particular item, requesting an item detail page, or facilitating a selection of a particular version of the particular item from a plurality of versions of the particular item; and

initiating, via the at least one first computing device, a performance of the interactive function.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

generating, via the at least one first computing device, a timeline user interface, the timeline user interface comprising a display of a subset of the plurality of items, the subset of the plurality of items corresponding to individual items being discussed during a particular time of the video stream; and

transmitting, via the at least one first computing device, the timeline user interface to the client.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the graphical overlay further comprises a rendering duration parameter of the video stream.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein a displayed version of the particular item is selected by default.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the second computing device is associated with a producer of the video stream, and wherein the at least one coordinate is received from the second computing device via a broadcaster management interface rendered on a display of the second computing device.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

generating, via the at least one first computing device, data indicating the plurality of items that are discussed during the video stream;

transmitting, via the at least one first computing device, the data indicating the plurality of items that are discussed during the video stream.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one first computing device, wherein, when executed, the program causes the at least one first computing device to at least:

transmit a video stream to a client device;

identify a graphical position in a frame of the video stream at which an image of an item appears based at least in part on receiving at least one coordinate of an approximate position of the item from a second computing device;

generate data encoding a graphical overlay for rendering over the video stream according to the graphical position, an area of the graphical overlay corresponding to a geometric shape to be superimposed over the graphical position;

transmit the data encoding the graphical overlay to the client device;

receive a selection of the graphical overlay from the client device, the selection corresponding to a request to perform an interactive function relative to the item; and

cause the interactive function to be performed concurrently with a playback of the video stream, the interactive function comprising at least one of casting a vote relative to the item, requesting an item detail page, or facilitating a selection of a particular version of the item from a plurality of versions.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the video stream depicts a host discussing a plurality of items.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein, when executed, the program further causes the at least one first computing device to at least transmit video segment information to the client device via a push arrangement, the video segment information comprising at least an order in which the plurality of items in a particular segment are discussed.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein, when executed, the program further causes the at least one first computing device to at least transmit user interface code to the client device, the user interface code being configured to implement a user interface for rendering the video stream.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the program further causes the at least one first computing device to at least:

identify another item associated with the item based at least in part on receiving user-submitted data from the client device; and

generate data encoding another graphical overlay, the other graphical overlay corresponding to the other item and being configured to be rendered by the client device relative to the video stream.