Digital rights managed virtual reality content sharing

• US 10,715,851 B1
• Filed: 12/16/2019
• Issued: 07/14/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2019
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bigscreen, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Bigscreen, Inc.
• Inventors: Shankar, Darshan, Petrie, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Mushfikh I
• Application Number:
  US16/716,240
• Time in Patent Office: 211 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8082 Virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2347 involving video stream encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4415 using biometric characteristics of the user, e.g. by voice recognition or fingerprint scanning cryptography using biological data H04L9/3231; authentication in networks using biometric H04L63/0861
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4627 Rights management associated to the content security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8146 involving graphical data, e.g. 3D object, 2D graphics

Abstract

Methods and systems describe providing digitally rights managed audiovisual content in a virtual reality (VR) viewing experience. Audiovisual content may be requested from a content delivery network upon determining that a user of a VR device is associated with an unexpired ticket to access the audiovisual content. The content delivery network generates a playback manifest, which is used by a digital rights management subsystem of the VR device to locate and download the content. A decrypted version of the audiovisual content plays within a graphical processor unit memory, such that the content is displayed on a virtual screen for the user within a VR viewing experience without the application or third party applications having access to the audiovisual content.

Claims

1. A method for providing audiovisual content in a virtual reality (VR) viewing experience, comprising:

receiving, from an application associated with a VR device, a request to access audiovisual content, wherein the VR device is in use by a user during a valid user session in response to the request, determining that the user is connected to an unexpired ticket for the user to access the audiovisual content;

sending a content request to a content delivery network (CDN) storing an encrypted copy of the audiovisual content;

receiving, from the CON, a playback manifest for the audiovisual content comprising at least license information for the audiovisual content;

sending the playback manifest to a digital rights management (DRM) subsystem of the VR device, wherein the DAM subsystem is configured to execute a DRM protocol capable of processing the playback manifest;

receiving notification from the DRM subsystem that the encrypted audiovisual content has been downloaded from the CON and decrypted within a protected graphical processor unit (GPU) memory of the VR device; and

providing the decrypted audiovisual content for playback on the VR device from within the protected GPU memory of the VR device;

wherein the determining that the user is connected to an unexpired ticket comprises at least;

receiving, from the application associated with the VR device, a visual representation of an eye of the user accessing the VR device, and

matching the visual representation of the eye of the user with a preexisting unique eye signature associated with one of the valid, unexpired tickets from the set of tickets.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the VR device is configured to perform eye tracking of users, and wherein the eye tracking comprises capturing the visual representation of the eye of the user accessing the VR device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving and matching are continuously performed on a periodic basis during playback of the audiovisual content, and wherein playback of the audiovisual content stops if a match cannot be made.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the VR device is a wearable device, and wherein the valid user session comprises the user exclusively wearing the VR device during operation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the playback of the decrypted audiovisual content on the VR device is configured to be accessible only to the user accessing the VR device during the valid user session or a subsequent valid user session.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the playback of the decrypted audiovisual content on the VR device is configured to be displayed on a virtual screen within the application associated with the VR device, and wherein the audiovisual content is inaccessible by the application and third-party applications.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the VR viewing experience is a shared viewing experience accessible concurrently with one or more additional users associated with valid, unexpired tickets, and wherein the decrypted audiovisual content can be played back concurrently by the one or more additional users.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the ticket associated with the user is configured to expire within a predefined period of time from the moment the audiovisual content begins playing back on the VR device during a valid user session with the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the audiovisual content is configured to be encrypted and decrypted using a public-private key encryption technique.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the VR device is configured to perform eye tracking of users, and wherein the eye tracking comprises capturing the visual representation of the eye of the user accessing the VR device.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the receiving and matching are continuously performed on a periodic basis during playback of the audiovisual content, and wherein playback of the audiovisual content stops if a match cannot be made.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions for providing a VR viewing experience, the instructions for execution by a computer system, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

instructions for receiving, from an application associated with a VR device, a request to access audiovisual content, wherein the VR device is in use by a user during a valid user session

instructions for determining, in response to the request, that the user is connected to an unexpired ticket for the user to access the audiovisual content;

instructions for sending a content request to a content delivery network (CDN) storing an encrypted copy of the audiovisual content;

instructions for receiving, from the CDN, a playback manifest for the audiovisual content comprising at least license information for the audiovisual content;

instructions for sending the playback manifest to a digital rights management (DRM) subsystem of the VA device, wherein the DRM subsystem is configured to execute a DRM protocol capable of processing the playback manifest;

instructions for receiving notification from the DRM subsystem that the encrypted audiovisual content has been downloaded from the CDN and decrypted within a protected graphical processor unit (GPU) memory of the VA device; and

instructions for providing the decrypted audiovisual content for playback on the VA device from within the protected GPU memory of the VA device;

wherein the determining that the user is connected to an unexpired ticket comprises at least;

receiving, from the application associated with the VR device, a visual representation of an eye of the user accessing the VR device, and

matching the visual representation of the eye of the user with a preexisting unique eye signature associated with one of the valid, unexpired tickets from the set of tickets.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the VR device is a wearable device, and wherein the valid user session comprises the user exclusively wearing the VR device during operation.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the playback of the decrypted audiovisual content on the VR device is configured to be accessible only to the user accessing the VR device during the valid user session or a subsequent valid user session.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the playback of the decrypted audiovisual content on the VR device is configured to be displayed on a virtual screen within the application associated with the VR device, and wherein the audiovisual content is inaccessible by the application and third-party applications.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the VR viewing experience is a shared viewing experience accessible concurrently with one or more additional users associated with valid, unexpired tickets, and wherein the decrypted audiovisual content can be played back concurrently by the one or more additional users.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the ticket associated with the user is configured to expire within a predefined period of time from the moment the audiovisual content begins playing back on the VR device during a valid user session with the user.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the audiovisual content is configured to be encrypted and decrypted using a public-private key encryption technique.