AUDIOVISUAL SYSTEM WITH INTERACTIVE SEAMLESS BRANCHING AND/OR TELESCOPIC ADVERTISING
First Claim
1. A method for playing a stored content comprising:
- providing a plurality of segments which collectively comprise said stored content, wherein each of said segments has a first terminus and a second terminus;
wherein content in each of said segments has a temporal flow from said first terminus to said second terminus, and wherein at least one segment is associated with a plurality of links to a corresponding plurality of other of said segments;
playing said at least one segment with said temporal flow;
determining prior to reaching said second terminus whether a content expansion is desired; and
linking to an expansion segment and playing said expansion segment if said content expansion is desired and to a continuing segment and playing said continuing segment if said content expansion is not desired, where there is an additional link from said expansion segment to said continuing segment such that said continuing segment is played after said expansion segment has been played.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One aspect of the invention is a method for playing a stored content providing a plurality of segments which collectively contains the stored content, each segment has using first terminus and a second terminus with the content having a temporal flow from the first terminus to the second terminus. At least one segment is associated with a plurality of links to other segments. The method includes playing at least one segment with the temporal flow, determining whether a content expansion is desired prior to reaching the second terminus. If the content expansion is desired, then linking to an expansion segment and playing the expansion segment. If the content expansion is not desired, then linking to a continuing segment and playing the continuing segment. The method includes an additional link from the expansion segment to the continuing segment such that the continuing segment is played after the expansion segment has been played. Other aspects of the invention include other methods for playing stored content, for capturing and playing content, capturing segment and linkage descriptions, storage devices of the segment content, storage mechanisms referencing the continuous media content by segments and linkages and apparatus for capturing and playing continuous media content.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for playing a stored content comprising:
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providing a plurality of segments which collectively comprise said stored content, wherein each of said segments has a first terminus and a second terminus;
wherein content in each of said segments has a temporal flow from said first terminus to said second terminus, and wherein at least one segment is associated with a plurality of links to a corresponding plurality of other of said segments;playing said at least one segment with said temporal flow; determining prior to reaching said second terminus whether a content expansion is desired; and linking to an expansion segment and playing said expansion segment if said content expansion is desired and to a continuing segment and playing said continuing segment if said content expansion is not desired, where there is an additional link from said expansion segment to said continuing segment such that said continuing segment is played after said expansion segment has been played. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for playing a stored content comprising:
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providing a plurality of segments which collectively comprise said stored content, wherein each of said segments has a first terminus and a second terminus and a continuity link associated with a member of the collection of a segment indicator and a non-segment indicator;
wherein content in each of said segments has a temporal flow from said first terminus to said second terminus; and
wherein at least one segment is associated with a plurality of expansion links to a corresponding plurality of other of said segments;playing said at least one segment with said temporal flow; determining prior to reaching said second terminus whether a content expansion is desired; and linking to an expansion segment, pushing said continuity link onto a link stack and playing said expansion segment if said content expansion is desired; and linking to a continuing segment and playing said continuing segment if said content expansion is not desired and if said continuity link indicates said continuing segment. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A storage device for a segmented continuous play media stream comprising:
- at least three segments, each segment comprising a first terminus and a second terminus wherein said segmented continuous play media stream within each segment progresses from said first terminus to said second terminus;
wherein at least one of said segments contains a plurality of links to a corresponding plurality of other of said segments further comprising a continuation link and at least one expansion link and a cue associated with each of said expansion links, stored in said containing segment substantially before said segmented continuous play media stream progresses to said second terminus of said containing segment;
wherein said segmented continuous play media stream of said containing segment progresses to said first terminus of said corresponding continuation link segment after progress to said containing segment second terminus; and
wherein said segmented continuous play media stream of said containing segment progresses to said first terminus of said corresponding expansion link segment after progress to said containing segment second terminus. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
- at least three segments, each segment comprising a first terminus and a second terminus wherein said segmented continuous play media stream within each segment progresses from said first terminus to said second terminus;
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32. A storage mechanism referencing a continuous play media stream segment store comprising
a collection of at least three segment descriptors each of said segment descriptors comprising a first terminus referencing a first time point of a continuous play media stream segment contained in said continuous play media stream segment store; - a second terminus referencing a second time point of said continuous play media stream segment contained in said continuous play media stream segment store;
a continuity link representing one of a collection comprising an indicator of another of segment descriptors and an indicator to a non-segment; andto a collection of at least one expansion link elements each of said expansion link elements comprising a expansion segment indicator, a expansion cue indicator and an indicator of one of a collection of an indicator of another of said expansion link elements and an indicator of a non-expansion link element; wherein each of said segment descriptors further comprises one of said indicators of one of said expansion link element. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
- a second terminus referencing a second time point of said continuous play media stream segment contained in said continuous play media stream segment store;
Specification