Method and system for an interactive video system

• US 20040021684A1
• Filed: 07/23/2002
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: B. Millner, Dominick
• Original Assignee: B. Millner, Dominick
• Inventors: B. Millner, Dominick
• Application Number:
  US10/200,150
• Publication Number:
  US 20040021684A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/719
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234318 by decomposing into objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4725 using interactive regions of the image, e.g. hot spots details of information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8583 by creating hot-spots

Abstract

A method and system provide an interactive video stream technique that allows pre-determination of interactive objects, on a frame-by-frame basis, within a video stream. The interactive technique allows designation of interactive objects as carried by key-frames, representing the end of a scene, within the video stream. Pre-determined information about the interactive object is provided to the user in response to user selection of the object. The interactive technique may include a video stream player software application that may receive a digital video stream and allow a user to designate the interactive objects within the video stream, and allow a user to select the interactive objects within the video stream during display and be provided with the pre-determined information about the object in response to the user selection.

Claims

1. A method to provide user interaction with a video stream, comprising:

sending a video stream, having a plurality of frames, to a user to be displayed on a user display wherein the video stream includes at least one pre-determined, interactive object carried by at least one distinct frame of the video stream.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing pre-determined information to the user about the interactive object in response to user selection of the interactive object during display of the video stream.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing a communications link to a pre-determined destination associated with an interactive term included within the pre-determined information in response to user selection of the interactive term.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing a video stream player application for the user to receive and display said video stream, and to provide said pre-determined information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said video stream player application includes either of a template display mode, full screen display mode, or a customized display mode for said video stream.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said pre-determined information is provided to the user as processed from a hypertext markup language image format.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said hypertext markup language image format reduces the storage space of the video stream player application.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein said user selection includes the interactive object being selected from visual display of the object in the video stream.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein said user selection includes the interactive object being selected from a word index listing the at least one interactive object in the video stream.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein said user selection includes the interactive object being selected during an interactive mode of video stream playback wherein said interactive mode allows a user to select the interactive object during display of the video stream.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said user display includes either of a computer, television, personal video display, cellular phone, or pager.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said sending includes sending the video stream to the user using a communications protocol including a transmission control protocol/internet protocol.

13. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing pre-determined, general information about the video stream in response to a user request.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said distinct frame is a key-frame, representing an end of a scene, for a pre-determined sequence of frames of the video stream.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said key-frame is a supplemental key-frame.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein said user selection includes either of a point-and-click operation upon the interactive object or moving a cursor over the interactive object.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein said video stream is either of a animation, movie portion, commercial, or a music video.

18. A method to provide user interaction with a video stream, comprising:

designating at least one interactive object, carried within at least one distinct frame of a video stream, that may be selected by a user during display of the video stream; and

associating said interactive object with information about the object to be provided to the user in response to user selection of said object.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said associating includes associating said object with a file including an identification reference, name, and said information for said object.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein said designating includes associating said interactive object with a file including an identification reference and a frame number associated with said object, and a shape and coordinates for the frame portion containing said object.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein said distinct frame is a key-frame, representing an end of a scene, for a pre-determined sequence of frames of the video stream.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein said key-frame is a supplemental key-frame.

23. A video stream player application including a plurality of executable instructions, the plurality of instructions comprising instructions to:

receive a video stream, having a plurality of frames, for a user to be displayed on a user display wherein the video stream includes at least one pre-determined, interactive object carried by at least one distinct frame of the video stream; and

provide pre-determined information to the user about the interactive object in response to user selection of the interactive object during display of the video stream.

24. The video stream player application of claim 23, wherein said instructions include instructions to provide a communications link to a pre-determined destination associated with an interactive term included within the pre-determined information in response to user selection of the interactive term.

25. The video stream player application of claim 23, wherein said instructions include instructions to provide either of a full screen display mode or a customized display mode for said video stream.

26. The video stream player application of claim 23, wherein said instructions include instructions to provide said pre-determined information to the user as processed from a hypertext markup language image format.

27. The video stream player application of claim 26, wherein said hypertext markup language image format reduces the storage space of the video stream player application.

28. The video stream player application of claim 23, wherein said user selection includes the interactive object being selected from visual display of the object in the video stream.

29. The video stream player application of claim 23, wherein said user display includes either of a computer, television, personal video display, cellular phone, or pager.

30. The video stream player application of claim 23, wherein said instructions include instructions to receive the video stream for the user using a communications protocol including a transmission control protocol/internet protocol.

31. The video stream player application of claim 23, wherein said video stream is received from a server.

32. The video stream player application of claim 23, wherein said video stream is received from a machine-readable medium.

33. The video stream player application of claim 23, wherein said distinct frame is a key-frame, representing an end of a scene, for a pre-determined sequence of frames of the video stream.

34. The video stream player application of claim 33, wherein said key-frame is a supplemental key-frame.

41. The interactive video system of claim 34, wherein said user device is interconnected to a digital video communications network to receive said video stream as part of a subscription service for a user.

35. An interactive video system, comprising:

a user device programmable to;

receive a video stream, having a plurality of frames, to be displayed on a user display wherein the video stream includes at least one pre-determined, interactive object carried by at least one distinct frame of the video stream; and

to provide pre-determined information to the user about the interactive object in response to user selection of the interactive object during display of the video stream.

36. The interactive video system of claim 35, further comprising:

a server, having said video stream stored thereon, to send said video stream to said user device.

37. The interactive video system of claim 35, further comprising:

a server, having a video stream player application stored thereon, to send said application to said user to program said user device.

38. The interactive video system of claim 35, wherein said user device is a digital video player.

39. The interactive video system of claim 35, wherein said distinct frame is a key-frame, representing an end of a scene, for a pre-determined sequence of frames of the video stream.

40. The interactive video system of claim 39, wherein said key-frame is a supplemental key-frame.

42. A video stream player application including a plurality of executable instructions, the plurality of instructions comprising instructions to:

perform an initialization function as the player application is loaded which includes loading a blank hypertext markup language page into an inline hypertext markup language frame as a placeholder for subsequent video stream frames;

perform a video stream playing function in response to a user selection which includes loading a sequence of video stream frames into said inline frame and swapping out said blank page; and

perform a video interaction function in response to a user selection which includes pausing said sequence of frames on a user-selected frame, determining a frame number for said frame, and loading pre-determined information, including a name and description of a user-selected interactive object carried within said frame, into said inline frame.

43. The video stream player application of claim 42, further comprising instructions to:

perform an index function in response to user selection which includes loading a word index, listing a plurality of interactive objects, into said inline frame.

44. A video stream player application including a plurality of executable instructions, the plurality of instructions comprising instructions to:

receive an unmodified video stream, having a plurality of frames, for a user to be displayed on a user display wherein the video stream includes at least one pre-determined, interactive object carried by at least one distinct frame of the video stream;

provide pre-determined information to the user about the interactive object in response to user selection of the interactive object during display of the video stream.

45. The video stream player application of claim 44, wherein said pre-determined information is provided from a pre-determined file allowing a plurality of distinct video streams, each carrying at least one user-selectable interactive object, to be received and displayed by loading an associated, distinct pre-determined file upon display of one of the plurality of video streams.

46. The video stream player application of claim 45, wherein said associated, distinct pre-determined file is stored in a hypertext markup language format.