Presence and proximity responsive program display
First Claim
1. A method for displaying a program depending on user presence within a program viewing area, the method comprising:
- determining if a user is present within a program viewing area;
if a user is present, identifying the user and displaying a program preference of the identified user; and
if no user is present, pausing or recording a pre-selected program.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Certain digital technology based consumer media devices such as personal video recorders have the ability to find and watch television shows, and/or automatically record programs of interest. The present disclosure provides systems and methods that allow a user to control the display, pausing or recording of programs based on the user'"'"'s presence in, or proximity to, a program viewing area. Also disclosed are methods for controlling program display based on a priority or rank assigned to the users. The disclosed methods also allow users to control the programs that certain individuals see or hear, and in particular minor children.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method for displaying a program depending on user presence within a program viewing area, the method comprising:
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determining if a user is present within a program viewing area;
if a user is present, identifying the user and displaying a program preference of the identified user; and
if no user is present, pausing or recording a pre-selected program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for displaying a program depending on the rank of one or more users present within a program viewing area, the method comprising:
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detecting the presence of one or more users in a program viewing area;
determining the rank of the one or more users; and
displaying a program preference of the user with the highest rank. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for displaying a program depending on the presence of a user within a program viewing area, the method comprising:
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detecting the presence of one or more users within a program viewing area;
determining if one or more of the users is a super-user;
if a super-user is detected, displaying a super-user program preference; and
if no super-user is detected, pausing or recording the super-user program preference. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A personal video recorder comprising:
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a personal video recording unit for viewing and recording programs;
a remote control unit, including at least one key for sending viewer preference commands to the personal video recording unit; and
a sensor unit for detecting the presence of one or more users within a program viewing area. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A personal video recorder comprising:
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a personal video recording unit for recording programs and playing back previously recorded programs;
a memory device for storing content therein;
a sensor unit for detecting the presence of one or more users within a program viewing area; and
a processing unit for adjusting playback of the personal video recording unit based on information related to one or more users, wherein the playback is adjusted to provide content stored in the memory device. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38)
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39. A memory for access by a processor having a data structure for a media program reference stored in the memory, the data structure having interrelated data types, wherein instruction signals embody the data structure, and wherein the interrelated data types include data types to store information, comprising:
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a media program identifier;
a channel identifier for media programs, wherein the channel identifier identifies a media source by which the media program identified by the media program identifier may be accessed;
an available access time identifier for a media program referenced by the media program identifier;
a schedule resolver identifier, wherein a media source and available access time for the media program identifier may be resolved to alternative media sources and access times should the media program identifier become inaccessible based on the invalidity of identifiers in the media program reference; and
a user identifier, wherein the user identifier identifies a program preference of one or more users detected within a program viewing area. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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41. A method for displaying program choices on the user interface of a personal video recorder, the method comprising:
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determining if a user is present within a program viewing area;
if a user is present, identifying the user; and
displaying the program preferences of the identified user on the user interface of a personal video recorder.
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42. A method for displaying a program depending on user presence within a program viewing area, the method comprising:
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providing first and second program viewing areas;
detecting the presence of a user within the first program viewing area;
identifying the user;
detecting the presence of the identified user within a second viewing area; and
displaying a program preference of the identified user in the second viewing area, wherein said program preference is displayed from a re-start point, and wherein said re-start point is the time point within the program preference at which the user is no longer detected within the first program viewing area.
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Specification