Method and system to provide interactive television content

• US 20080196071A1
• Filed: 02/09/2007
• Published: 08/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Manthoulis, Orestis
• Granted Patent: US 8,843,989 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/100
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/858 Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Methods and systems for providing interactive television are provided. A method may include sending television content received from a content source to a user device. The method may also include sending at least one interactive program trigger. The interactive program trigger may be adapted to cause the user device to initiate execution of processor executable instructions stored at the user device to provide at least one interactive display related to the television content at a display device.

Claims

1. A method of providing interactive television content, the method comprising:

sending television content received from a content source to a user device; and

sending at least one interactive program trigger adapted to cause the user device to initiate execution of processor executable instructions stored at the user device to provide at least one interactive display related to the television content at a display device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the television content is sent substantially simultaneously with the at least one interactive program trigger.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one interactive program trigger is sent via a vertical blanking interval of the television content.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a program scheduling request requesting television content, and sending the requested television content after processor executable instructions associated with requested television content are sent by an instruction source.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the television content comprises a television program.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the television content comprises an advertisement.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the processor executable instructions from an instruction source to the user device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising selecting processor executable instructions to send based at least partially on user adjustable settings.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising selecting processor executable instructions to send based at least partially on historical user information.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising selecting processor executable instructions to send based at least partially on sponsor settings.

11. An interactive television system, comprising:

at least one output to;

send television content received from a content source to a remote user device; and

send a trigger signal to the remote user device, wherein the remote user device executes pre-loaded instructions to provide at least one interactive feature associated with the television content based on the trigger signal.

12. The interactive television system of claim 11, further comprising an interactive television server to send the instructions to the remote user device.

13. The interactive television system of claim 11, further comprising a user interface module to receive user interaction data associated with the at least one interactive feature.

14. The interactive television system of claim 13, further comprising logic to process the user interaction data and to send a second trigger signal, such that the remote user device can execute the pre-loaded instructions to provide a second interactive feature based on the second trigger signal.

15. The interactive television system of claim 13, further comprising logic to process the user interaction data and to send data to the remote user device for display to a user.

16. The interactive television system of claim 13, further comprising logic to process user interaction data received from a plurality of users and to send data to the remote user device for display to a user.

17. A set-top box device, comprising:

a memory including instructions executable based on at least one trigger signal to provide at least one interactive display at a display device in communication with the set-top box device;

an input to receive a data stream from a remote network device, wherein the data stream includes television content and the at least one trigger signal; and

logic to execute the instructions in response to the at least one trigger signal.

18. The set-top box device of claim 17, further comprising a user interface module to receive user input related to the at least one interactive display.

19. The set-top box device of claim 18, wherein the logic processes the user input and modifies the at least one interactive display based on the user input.

20. The set-top box device of claim 17, further comprising an output to send data related to the user input to a remote network device.

21. The set-top box device of claim 17, wherein the input receives the instructions executable by the logic from the remote network device and stores the instructions in the memory.

22. The set-top box device of claim 17, wherein the at least one interactive display includes at least one selectable element based on data received in the at least one trigger signal.

23. The set-top box device of claim 22, wherein the at least one selectable element comprises a voting element allowing a user to express an opinion related to the television content.

24. The set-top box device of claim 22, wherein the at least one selectable element comprises a participation element allowing a user to participate with the television content.

25. The set-top box device of claim 22, wherein the television content includes a game show, and wherein the at least one selectable element includes a selection associated with the game show.

26. The set-top box device of claim 17, further comprising an interactive display program, wherein the instructions executable based on at least one trigger signal comprise a plug-in software module to the interactive display program.

27. A method of providing interactive television, the method comprising:

receiving, at a user device, a data stream from a remote network device, wherein the data stream includes television content and at least one trigger signal; and

executing processor executable instructions stored at the user device based the at least one trigger signal to generate at least one interactive display at a display device.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising receiving, at the user device, a data stream from the remote network device, wherein the data stream includes the processor executable instructions, and storing the processor executable instructions at the user device.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the processor executable instructions are received via a first communication path and the data stream including television content and at least one trigger signal are received via a second communication path.

30. The method of claim 27, further comprising receiving user input related to the interactive display and modifying the interactive display based on the user input.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising receiving user input related to the interactive display and sending data indicating the user input to a remote network device.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein the at least one interactive display is associated with specific television content, and wherein the at least one trigger signal is received substantially simultaneously with the specific television content.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein the at least one interactive display is associated with specific television content, and wherein the method further comprises synchronizing the at least one interactive display with the specific television content based on the at least one trigger signal.

34. A computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions, wherein the computer readable instructions are executable by a processor to:

receive input comprising a data stream including television content and at least one trigger signal associated with specific television content; and

generate an interactive display including an interactive feature related to the specific television content based on the at least one trigger signal.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 34, further comprising instructions executable by the processor to receive user input related to the interactive display and to modify the interactive display based on the user input.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 34, further comprising instructions executable by the processor to receive user input related to the interactive display and to send data indicating the user input to a remote network device.