Internet-Based System for Interactive Synchronized Shared Viewing of Video Content

• US 20090044216A1
• Filed: 08/08/2008
• Published: 02/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Marcel Mcnicoll
• Original Assignee: Marcel Mcnicoll
• Inventors: McNicoll, Marcel
• Application Number:
  US12/188,303
• Publication Number:
  US 20090044216A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/5
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42646 for reading from or writing on a non-volatile solid state storage medium, e.g. DVD, CD-ROM
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4661 Deriving a combined profile for a plurality of end-users of the same client, e.g. for family members within a home user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47205 for manipulating displayed content, e.g. interacting with MPEG-4 objects, editing locally
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/475 End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4784 receiving rewards
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8545 for generating interactive applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

Internet-based viewing system for interactive synchronized shared viewing of video content comprises a website accessible to customers of the viewing system and providing mechanisms for the customers to select, author and schedule viewing sessions for transmission by the system, to invite other customers to view selected viewing sessions in synchronicity as a shared viewing group while allowing interactive communication between the customers within the viewing group. The system website provides mechanisms for providers of video content and customers to author viewing programs and makes them available to customers on the system website. Advertisements and/or interactive components may be included in the viewing programs as part of the authoring processes.

Claims

1. An Internet-based viewing system for interactive synchronized shared viewing of video content, comprising

a viewing system website accessible to viewing customers of said viewing system via the Internet;

a viewing session selection mechanism accessible to the customers of said viewing system on said website for selecting viewing sessions for transmission by said viewing system to the customers via the Internet, said viewing session selection mechanism including a customer authoring module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to author customized viewing sessions, wherein a customized viewing program includes a play list of video items selected by the customer, said customer authoring module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to include one or more advertisements among the video items in the play lists for customized viewing programs, and a mechanism on said website for customers to include one or more interactive components among the video items in the play lists for customized viewing programs;

a schedule module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to schedule a date and time for transmission by said viewing system of selected viewing sessions, and providing a mechanism on said website for customers to optionally elect to make the selected viewing sessions publicly available on said website to all customers of said viewing system;

an invitation module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to optionally invite one or more specific other customers of said viewing system to view a selected viewing session in synchrony as a shared viewing group, said viewing system operating to automatically transmit electronically an invitation to the specific other customers invited to participate in the shared viewing group;

a notification reply module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to accept or decline invitations to participate in shared viewing groups;

a payment module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to electronically pay a fee for viewing sessions transmitted by said viewing system that the customer has elected to receive;

means for transmitting viewing sessions via the Internet at the scheduled date and time to customers who have paid the fee for the viewing sessions; and

means for synchronizing transmission of viewing sessions among the customers in shared viewing groups while enabling interactive communication between the customers within in the shared viewing groups via the Internet.

2. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 1 wherein said customer authoring module provides a mechanism on said website for customers to search for and select main feature video items, including movies and main feature programs, for inclusion in the play lists of customized viewing programs.

3. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 2 wherein said customer authoring module provides a mechanism on said website for customers to search for and select advertisements for inclusion in the play lists of customized viewing programs.

4. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 1 wherein said viewing system further includes an interactive components authoring module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to create interactive components for inclusion in the play lists of customized viewing programs.

5. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 1 wherein said viewing system further includes a business rules management module that assigns pre-established rewards to customers in exchange for one or more actions taken by customers, wherein said actions include viewing advertisements and interacting with advertisements in the play lists of viewing programs.

6. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 5 wherein said payment module provides a mechanism on said website for customers to redeem said rewards toward payment of the fee for viewing sessions.

7. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 1 wherein said customer authoring module provides a mechanism on said website for customers to insert one or more placeholders in the play lists of customized viewing programs and said viewing system dynamically replaces each of said placeholders with a relevant video item just prior to transmitting the viewing sessions.

8. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 1 wherein said viewing system further includes a security mechanism that encrypts a permanent invisible mark within the video content that is transmitted to the customers of said viewing system, said mark being unique for each customer of said viewing system and being traceable back to the customer and to the date and time that the video content is received by the customer.

9. An Internet-based viewing system for interactive synchronized shared viewing of video content, comprising

a viewing system website accessible via the Internet to viewing customers of said viewing system and to providers of video content to said viewing system;

a viewing session selection mechanism accessible to the customers of said viewing system on said website for selecting viewing sessions for transmission by said viewing system to the customers via the Internet, said viewing session selection mechanism including a pre-packaged viewing program module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to search for and select pre-packaged viewing programs from a pool of pre-packaged viewing programs, wherein said pre-packaged viewing programs each include a play list of video items pre-selected by a provider of video content;

a provider authoring module accessible to the providers of video content on said viewing system website and providing a mechanism on said website for providers of video content to author said pre-packaged viewing programs by selecting the video items to be included in the play lists for said pre-packaged viewing programs, said provider authoring module including a mechanism on said website for providers of video content to include one or more advertisements among the video items in the play lists for pre-packaged viewing programs;

a schedule module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to schedule a date and time for transmission by said viewing system of selected viewing sessions and providing a mechanism on said website for customers to optionally elect to make the selected viewing sessions publicly available on said website to all customers of said viewing system;

an invitation module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to optionally invite one or more specific other customers of said viewing system to view a selected viewing session in synchrony as a shared viewing group, said viewing system operating to automatically transmit electronically an invitation to the specific other customers invited to participate in the shared viewing group;

a notification reply module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to accept or decline invitations to participate in shared viewing groups;

a payment module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to electronically pay a fee for viewing sessions transmitted by said viewing system that the customer has elected to receive;

means for transmitting viewing sessions via the Internet at the scheduled date and time to customers who have paid the fee for the viewing sessions; and

means for synchronizing transmission of viewing sessions among the customers in shared viewing groups while enabling interactive communication between the customers within the shared viewing groups via the Internet.

10. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 9 wherein said provider authoring module provides a mechanism on said website for providers of video content to search for and select main feature video items, including movies and main feature programs, for inclusion in the play lists of pre-packaged viewing programs.

11. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 10 wherein said viewing system further includes a sponsor selection mechanism on said website for providers of video content to search for and select sponsors for viewing programs, wherein selection of a sponsor for a viewing program results in inclusion of a sponsor advertisement in the play list for the viewing program.

12. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 9 wherein said provider authoring module provides a mechanism on said website for providers of video content to insert one or more placeholders in the play lists of a pre-packaged viewing programs and said viewing system dynamically replaces each of said placeholders with a relevant video item just prior to transmitting the viewing sessions.

13. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 12 wherein said viewing system further includes an import module accessible on said website to providers of video content and providing a mechanism for importing video content and associated data into said viewing system on an ongoing basis, and said viewing system dynamically replaces each of said placeholders with the most recently imported relevant video items.

14. An Internet-based viewing system for interactive synchronized shared viewing of video content, comprising

a viewing system website accessible via the Internet to viewing customers of said viewing system and to providers of video content to said viewing system;

a mechanism for customers on said website to enter into said viewing system personal advertisement preferences for the customer;

a viewing session selection mechanism accessible to the customers of said viewing system on said website for selecting viewing sessions for transmission by said viewing system to the customers via the Internet, said viewing session selection mechanism including a pre-packaged viewing program module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to optionally search for and select pre-packaged viewing programs from a pool of pre-packaged viewing programs, wherein said pre-packaged viewing programs each include a play list of video items pre-selected by a provider of video content;

a provider authoring module accessible to the providers of video content on said website and providing a mechanism on said website for providers of video content to author said pre-packaged viewing programs by selecting the video items to be included in the play lists for said pre-packaged viewing programs, said provider authoring module including a mechanism on said website for providers of video content to insert one or more placeholders in the play lists for said pre-packaged viewing programs;

a customer authoring module accessible to customers on said website and providing a mechanism on said website for customers to optionally author customized viewing programs by selecting the video items to be included in the play lists for the customized viewing programs, said customer authoring module including a mechanism on said website for customers to insert one or more placeholders in the play lists for the customized viewing programs;

a schedule module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to schedule a date and time for transmission by said viewing system of selected viewing sessions, and providing a mechanism on said website for customers to optionally elect to make the selected viewing sessions publicly available on said website to all customers of said viewing system;

an invitation module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to optionally invite one or more specific other customers of said viewing system to view a selected viewing session in synchrony as a shared viewing group, said viewing system operating to automatically transmit electronically an invitation to the specific other customer to participate in the shared viewing group;

a notification reply module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to accept or decline invitations to participate in shared viewing groups;

a payment module providing a mechanism on said website for customers to electronically pay a fee for viewing sessions transmitted by said viewing system that the customer has elected to receive;

means for transmitting viewing sessions via the Internet at the scheduled date and time to customers who have paid the fee for the viewing sessions wherein, at the time of transmission, said viewing system dynamically replaces each of said placeholders with a relevant video item; and

means for synchronizing transmission of viewing sessions among the customers in shared viewing groups while enabling interactive communication between the customers within the shared viewing groups via the Internet.

15. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 14 wherein said placeholders available to providers of video content for insertion in the play lists for pre-packaged viewing programs include promotional placeholders associated with main feature video items, customer preference advertisement placeholders, and provider advertisement placeholders, said viewing system further includes an import module accessible on said website to providers of video content and providing a mechanism on said website for providers to import video items and associated data into said viewing system on an ongoing basis including video items corresponding to said promotional placeholders and to said provider advertisement placeholders, wherein said viewing system dynamically replaces said promotional placeholders and said provider advertisement placeholders with the most recently imported relevant video items corresponding to said placeholders.

16. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 15 wherein said viewing system dynamically replaces, for a given customer, said customer preference advertisement placeholders with a video advertisement relevant to the personal advertisement preferences entered by the customer into said viewing system.

17. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 16 wherein said viewing system further includes an advertisement import module accessible on said system website to advertisers and providing a mechanism on said website for advertisers to import video advertisement items and associated data into said viewing system on an ongoing basis corresponding to said customer preference advertisement placeholders, wherein said viewing system dynamically replaces said customer preference advertisement placeholders with the most recently imported relevant video advertisement items corresponding to said customer preference advertisement placeholders.

18. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 17 wherein said viewing system operates to assign a reward to customers who author customized viewing programs having play lists with one or more placeholders.

19. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 14 wherein said viewing system operates to assign a reward to customers who elect to make a selected viewing program publicly available on said website whenever another customer of said viewing system selects and views the viewing program.

20. The Internet-based viewing system recited in claim 14 wherein said customer authoring module provides a mechanism on said website for customers to search for and select main feature video items having sponsors associated therewith, and said viewing system operates to present sponsor advertisements to the customers for inclusion in the play lists of customized viewing programs, and said website provides a mechanism for customers to accept or not accept the sponsor advertisements for inclusion in the play lists of customized viewing programs.