SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REAL-TIME UNIFIED MEDIA PREVIEW

• US 20130232522A1
• Filed: 11/16/2010
• Published: 09/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Madison Patent Holdings (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Anthru, Shemimon Manalikudy, Cahnbley, Jens, Campana, David Anthony, Anderson, David Brian, Mandrekar, Ishan Uday
• Application Number:
  US13/884,306
• Publication Number:
  US 20130232522A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26283 for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic program guide data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26603 for automatically generating descriptors from content, e.g. when it is not made available by its provider, using content analysis techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8549 Creating video summaries, e.g. movie trailer retrieval in video databases by using presentations in form of a video summary G06F16/739

Abstract

A centralized media device accesses media sources via a networked system to display a unified preview of media contents stored on different devices. The unified previews are provided in real-time, pushing previews to multiple user devices. The centralized media device can employ user profile information to tailor the unified previews to individuals. It can also employ external sources to obtain relevant content images and information to provide to a user. The centralized media device can operate independently of the type of media, media source and/or viewing devices.

Claims

1. A content preview generation system, comprising:

a centralized media device that monitors at least one viewing device for media content, determines which scene is being viewed, accesses at least one media source and provides at least one preview related to the media content to at least one viewing device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized media device utilizes at least one user profile to determine at least one preview to provide for the at least one viewing device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized media device utilizes captioning meta data to determine which scene is being viewed.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized media device accesses at least one remote media source to obtain preview information.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized media device is at least one of a gateway and a media server.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized media device provides at least on preview for at least one of a photograph, a video, a television show and an audio recording.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized media device provides at least one preview to a viewing device other than the viewing device that a user is currently viewing.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized media utilizes a localized network to discover at least one media source.

9. A method for generating previews, comprising the steps of:

monitoring at least one viewing device for media content;

determining which scene is being viewed;

accessing at least one media source to retrieve content related to the scene; and

generating at least one preview for media content associated with the retrieved content.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

displaying the generated preview on at least one viewing device.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

accessing at least one media source from a remote location.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

generating at least one preview based on at least one of a user profile and genre of media content being viewed.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

generating previews from a centralized location independent of media sources utilized to generate the previews..

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

displaying at least one generated preview on a viewing device other than a viewing device displaying the media content on which the preview is based.

15. A system that generates previews, comprising:

means for monitoring at least one viewing device for media content;

means for determining which scene is being viewed;

means for accessing at least one media source to retrieve content related to the scene; and

means for generating at least one preview for media content associated with the retrieved content.