SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO SELECT MEDIA CONTENT

• US 20100131844A1
• Filed: 11/25/2008
• Published: 05/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wohlert, Randolph
• Granted Patent: US 8,156,435 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/716
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/435 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4387 by the use of playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

Systems and methods to select media content are provided. A particular method includes generating a media playlist based on user preference data and generating a user interface display. The user preference data indicates proportions of each of a plurality of categories of media content to be present in the media playlist. The user interface display presents the user preference data using adjustable bars. Each bar is associated with one of the categories of media content, and a dimension of each bar is associated with the proportion of the respective category of media content included in the media playlist. The method includes receiving user input adjusting the dimension of a first bar associated with a first category of the plurality of categories of media content. The method includes adjusting the proportion of the first category of media content included in the media playlist based on the user input.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

generating a media playlist based on user preference data, wherein the user preference data indicates proportions of each of a plurality of categories of media content to be present in the media playlist;

generating a user interface display, wherein the user interface display presents the user preference data using a plurality of adjustable bars, each adjustable bar associated with one of the categories of media content, wherein a dimension of each of the plurality of adjustable bars is associated with the proportion of the respective category of media content included in the media playlist;

receiving user input adjusting the dimension of a first bar of the plurality of adjustable bars, wherein the first bar is associated with a first category of the plurality of categories of media content; and

adjusting the proportion of the first category of media content included in the media playlist based on the user input to generate a modified media playlist.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of categories includes at least one user defined category.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein particular media content is associated with the at least one user defined category based on a property that is not intrinsic to the particular media content.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the particular media content is associated with the at least one user defined category based on a storage location of the particular media content.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the particular media content associated with the at least one user defined category includes a plurality of otherwise unrelated user selected content items.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the particular media content associated with the at least one user defined category includes media content items associated with a universal resource identifier (URI).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the proportion of the first category of media content included in the media playlist includes adjusting a percentage of the first category of media content included in the media playlist and adjusting a percentage of at least one second category of the media content included in the media playlist

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface display includes a category list including data identifying at least one second category of media content, wherein the at least one second category of media content is not included in the media playlist, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving second user input selecting and dragging the data identifying the at least one second category of media content to a portion of the user interface display including the plurality of adjustable bars; and

in response to the second user input, adding the at least one second category of media content to the media playlist.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an output including a first media content item selected based on the modified media playlist, wherein the user interface display includes information identifying the first media content item presented in a color corresponding to a color of a particular adjustable bar, wherein the particular adjustable bar is associated with a particular category of media content from which the first media content item was selected.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the particular adjustable bar is animated in the user interface display while the output includes the first media content item.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an output including a first media content item selected based on the modified media playlist, wherein the user interface display includes a visual indicator identifying that the first media content item is associated with a particular category of media content.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one bar of the plurality of adjustable bars has a name identifying a representative media content item, wherein the representative media content item is from a category of media content associated with the at least one bar.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface display includes a list identifying previously presented media content items, wherein each of the previously presented media content items is presented in a color corresponding to a color of one of the plurality of adjustable bars associated with the category of media content from which the previously presented media content item was selected.

14. A system, comprising:

a media selection module to generate a media playlist based on user preference data, wherein the user preference data indicates proportions of each of a plurality of categories of media content to be present in the media playlist;

a graphical user interface (GUI) module to present a user interface display including a representation of the user preference data using a plurality of adjustable bars, each adjustable bar associated with one of the plurality of categories of media content, wherein a dimension of each of the plurality of adjustable bars is associated with a proportion of the respective category of media content included in the media playlist;

an input interface to receive an input to adjust the dimension of a first bar of the plurality of adjustable bars, wherein the first bar is associated with a first category of the plurality of categories of media content; and

a user settings module to adjust the user preference data based on the input.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the media selection module generates the media playlist dynamically by selecting one or more subsequent media content items to be presented based on the user preference data while a current media content item is presented.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a media player to generate an output including the current media content item.

17. The system of claim 14, further comprising a memory device interface to access the media content items from the media playlist to generate an output based on the media playlist, wherein the memory device interface accesses media content items that are available at a first local memory, and wherein the memory device interface accesses media content items that are not available at a first local memory via a remote network element.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the media selection module and the user settings module are located at a media player device.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the media selection module and the user settings module are located at a remote network element accessible to a media player device via a network.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising:

operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to generate a media playlist based on user preference data, wherein the user preference data indicates proportions of each of a plurality of categories of media content to be present in the media playlist;

operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to generate a user interface display, wherein the user interface display presents the user preference data using a plurality of adjustable bars, each adjustable bar associated with one of the categories of media content, wherein a dimension of each of the plurality of adjustable bars is associated with a proportion of the respective category of media content included in the media playlist; and

operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to adjust the proportion of a first category of media content included in the media playlist based on received user input to adjust the dimension of a first bar of the plurality of adjustable bars, wherein the first bar is associated with the first category of the plurality of categories of media content.