APPARATUS FOR ADAPTING A PRESENTATION OF MEDIA CONTENT ACCORDING TO A POSITION OF A VIEWING APPARATUS

• US 20120023540A1
• Filed: 07/20/2010
• Published: 01/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2010
• 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: MEUNINCK, TROY C., Bedingfield, James Carlton Sr., Brown, William A., Morris, Nadia, Delorme, David B.
• Granted Patent: US 9,032,470 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1423 controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/20 Linear translation of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. panning
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/18 Timing circuits for raster scan displays specially adapted for television H04N ; synchronisation between the display unit and other display units, videodisc player G09G5/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/282 for generating image signals corresponding to three or more geometrical viewpoints, e.g. multi-view systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/337 using polarisation multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/349 Multi-view displays for displaying three or more geometrical viewpoints without viewer tracking for viewing without the aid of special glasses using fly-eye lenses H04N13/307
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/356 having separate monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/368 for two or more viewers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/405 the images being stereoscopic or three dimensional
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/422 Input-only peripherals , i.e. input devices connected to specially adapted client devices, e.g. global positioning system [GPS] input devices also receiving signals from specially adapted client devices H04N21/4104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4524 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer instructions to detect a first position of a viewing apparatus, wherein the viewing apparatus enables viewing of media programs, obtain a media program in a first viewing perspective that conforms to the first position, present the media program with the first viewing perspective for viewing by way of the viewing apparatus, and transmit to the viewing apparatus a first audio signal corresponding to the first viewing perspective. The storage medium can also have computer instructions to detect that the viewing apparatus has moved to a second position, obtain the media program in a second viewing perspective according to the second position, and present the media program with the second viewing perspective for viewing by way of the viewing apparatus. Other embodiments are disclosed and contemplated.

Claims

1. A media processor, comprising a controller to:

assign a first viewing apparatus to a first of one or more periodic time slots;

assign a second viewing apparatus to a second of one or more periodic time slots;

detect the first viewing apparatus in a first position;

detect the second viewing apparatus in a second position;

obtain a first media program in a first viewing perspective according to the first position;

obtain a second media program in a second viewing perspective according to the second position;

direct a presentation device to present the first media program with the first viewing perspective during the first of the one or more periodic time slots;

direct the presentation device to present the second media program with the second viewing perspective during the second of the one or more periodic time slots,

wherein the first viewing apparatus enables viewing of the first media program in the first viewing perspective during the first of the one or more periodic time slots while preventing a viewing of the second media program in the second viewing perspective during the second of the one or more periodic time slots, and

wherein the second viewing apparatus enables viewing of the first media program in the second viewing perspective during the second of the one or more periodic time slots while preventing a viewing of the second media program in the first viewing perspective during the first of the one or more periodic time slots.

2. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to obtain the first and second media programs in the first and second viewing perspectives from a media system that supplies media programs to the media processor in a plurality of perspectives.

3. The media processor of claim 2, wherein the media system comprises one of an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network, a cable TV network, and a satellite TV network.

4. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to:

receive the first and second media programs having a plurality of viewing perspectives; and

obtain the first and second media programs in the first and second viewing perspectives from the first and second media programs having the plurality of viewing perspectives.

5. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to:

detect that the first viewing apparatus has moved to a third position;

obtain the first media program in a third viewing perspective in accordance with the third position; and

direct the presentation device to present the first media program in the third viewing perspective during the first of the one or more periodic time slots without interrupting viewability by the second viewing apparatus of the second media program in the second viewing perspective.

6. The media processor of claim 5, wherein the controller is operable to adapt the first media program in the first viewing perspective to the first media program in the third viewing perspective according to the third position.

7. The media processor of claim 5, wherein the controller is operable to:

transmit the third position to a media system that supplies the first media program to the media processor in a plurality of viewing perspectives; and

receive from the media system the first media program in the third viewing perspective responsive to transmitting the third position to the media system.

8. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to:

transmit to the first viewing apparatus a first audio signal associated with the first viewing perspective; and

transmit to the second viewing apparatus a second audio signal associated with the second viewing perspective.

9. The media processor of claim 8, wherein the controller is operable to:

detect that the first viewing apparatus has moved to a third position;

obtain the first media program in a third viewing perspective in accordance with the third position;

obtain a second audio signal in accordance with the third viewing perspective; and

direct the presentation device to present the first media program in the third viewing perspective; and

transmit to the first viewing apparatus the second audio signal.

10. The media processor of claim 1, comprising an imaging sensor operable to detect a change in position of at least one of the first and second viewing apparatuses.

11. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the first and second viewing apparatuses each comprise a location detector, and wherein each of the first and second viewing apparatuses is operable to inform the media processor of the first and second positions.

12. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the first and second media programs each comprise two-dimensional or three-dimensional images, wherein the media processor corresponds to a set-top box, and wherein each of the first and second viewing apparatuses correspond to shutter glasses, polarized glasses, or a combination thereof.

13. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the first and second media programs comprise a single instance of media content viewed in different viewing perspectives by the first and second viewing apparatuses or unrelated first and second instances of media content viewed from more than one viewing perspective, and wherein the first and second viewing perspectives correspond to two of a plurality of viewing angles of still or moving images associated with the first and second media programs.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions to:

detect a first position of a viewing apparatus, wherein the viewing apparatus enables viewing of media programs;

obtain a media program in a first viewing perspective that conforms to the first position;

present the media program with the first viewing perspective for viewing by way of the viewing apparatus;

transmit to the viewing apparatus a first audio signal corresponding to the first viewing perspective;

detect that the viewing apparatus has moved to a second position;

obtain the media program in a second viewing perspective according to the second position; and

present the media program with the second viewing perspective for viewing by way of the viewing apparatus.

15. The storage medium of claim 14, comprising computer instructions to transition from transmitting to the viewing apparatus the first audio signal to transmitting to the viewing apparatus a second audio signal corresponding to the second viewing perspective.

16. The storage medium of claim 14, comprising computer instructions to obtain the media program in the first and second viewing perspectives from a media system that supplies the media program in a plurality of viewing perspectives.

17. The storage medium of claim 14, comprising computer instructions to:

receive the media program in a plurality of viewing perspectives; and

obtain the media program in the first and second viewing perspectives from the plurality of viewing perspectives.

18. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein the media program is presented in a time division multiplexing (TDM) scheme or a space division multiplexing (SDM) scheme.

19. A viewing apparatus, comprising a controller to:

detect the viewing apparatus in a first location;

transmit to a set-top box (STB) a signal comprising the first location;

enable viewing of a media program presented by the STB in a first viewing perspective, wherein the STB obtains the media program in the first viewing perspective according to the first location of the viewing apparatus;

detect that the viewing apparatus has moved to a second location;

transmit to the STB a signal comprising the second location; and

enable viewing of the media program presented by the STB in a second viewing perspective, wherein the STB transitions the presentation of the media program in the first viewing perspective to the presentation of the media program in the second viewing perspective according to the second location of the viewing apparatus.

20. The viewing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the controller is operable to enable viewing of the media program in the first or second viewing perspectives according to one of a time division multiplexing (TDM) presentation scheme or a space division multiplexing (SDM) presentation scheme.