MULTIMEDIA CONTENT TAGS

• US 20140074855A1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Published: 03/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Verance Corporation
• Original Assignee: Verance Corporation
• Inventors: Winograd, Joseph M., Zhao, Jian
• Application Number:
  US13/828,706
• Publication Number:
  US 20140074855A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/746
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/41 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/94 Hypermedia Hyperlinking G06F40/134
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8547 involving timestamps for synchronizing content

Abstract

Methods, devices and computer program products facilitate enhanced use and interaction with a multimedia content through the use of tags. While a content is being presented by a device, a content identifier and at least one time code associated with one or more content segments are obtained. One or both of the content identifier and the time code can be obtained from watermarks that are embedded in the content, or through computation of fingerprints that are subsequently matched against a database of stored fingerprints and metadata. The content identifier and the at least one time code are transmitted to a tag server. In response, tag information for the one or more content segments is received and one or more tags are presented to a user. The tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the content segments.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining a content identifier and at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device;

transmitting the content identifier and the at least one time code to one or more tag servers;

receiving tag information for the one or more content segments; and

presenting one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, wherein the one or more tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each time code identifies a temporal location of an associated content segment within the content timeline.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one time code is obtained from one or more watermarks embedded in the one or more content segments.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

obtaining a content identifier comprises extracting an embedded watermark from the content to obtain at least a first portion of the embedded watermark payload corresponding to the content identifier; and

transmitting the content identifier comprises transmitting at least the first portion of the embedded watermark payload to the one or more tag servers.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the content identifier and the at least one time code comprises:

computing one or more fingerprints from the one or more content segments; and

transmitting the computed one or more fingerprints to a fingerprint database, wherein the fingerprint database comprises stored fingerprints and associated content identification information for a plurality of contents to allow determination of the content identifier and the at least one time code by comparing the computed fingerprints with the stored fingerprints.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the tags are presented on a portion of a display on the first device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

at least a portion of the one or more content segments is received at a second device;

obtaining the content identifier and the at least one time code is carried out, at least in-part, by the second device; and

the one or more tags are presented on a screen associated with the second device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second device is configured to receive at least the portion of the one or more content segments using a wireless signaling technique.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the second device operates as a remote control of the first device.

10. The method claim 9, further comprising presenting a graphical user interface that enables one or more of the following functionalities:

pausing of the content that is presented by the first device;

resuming playback of the content that is presented by the first device;

showing the one or more tags;

mirroring a screen of the first device and a screen of the second device such that both screens display the same content;

swapping the content that is presented on a screen of the first device with content presented on a screen of the second device; and

generating a tag in synchronization with the at least one time code.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing generation of an additional tag that is associated with the one or more content segments through the at least one time code.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein allowing the generation of an additional tag comprises presenting one or more fields on a graphical user interface to allow a user to generate the additional tag by performing at least one of the following operations:

entering a text in the one or more fields;

expressing an opinion related to the one or more content segments;

voting on an aspect of the one or more content segments; and

generating a quick tag.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein allowing the generation of an additional tag comprises allowing generation of a blank tag, the blank tag being persistently associated with a temporal location of the one or more segments and including a blank body to allow completion of the blank body at a future time.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the blank tag allows one or more of the following content sections to be tagged:

a part the content that was just presented,

a current scene that is presented,

last action that was presented, and

current conversation that is presented.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the additional tag is linked to one or more of the presented tags through a predefined relationship and wherein the predefined relationship is stored as part of the additional tag.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the predefined relationship comprises one or more of:

a derivative relationship, a similar relationship and a synchronization relationship.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing generation of an additional tag that is indirectly linked to a corresponding tag of a content different from the content that is presented, wherein:

the indirect linkage of the additional tag is not stored as part of the additional tag but is retained at the one or more tag servers.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more tags are presented on a graphical user interface as one or more corresponding icons that are superimposed on a timeline of the content that is presented, and wherein at least one icon is connected to at least another icon using a line that is representative of a link between the at least one icon and the at least another icon.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising selectively zooming in or zooming out the timeline of the content to allow viewing of one or more tags with a particular granularity.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more tags comprises a header section that includes:

a content identifier field that includes information identifying the content asset that each tag is associated with;

a time code that identifies particular segment(s) of the content asset that each tag is associated with; and

a tag address that uniquely identifies each tag.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein each of the one or more tags comprises a body that includes:

a body type field;

one or more data elements; and

a number and size of the data elements.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the content identifier and the at least one time code are obtained by estimating the content identifier and the at least one time code from previously obtained content identifier and time code(s).

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a purchasing opportunity that is triggered based upon the at least one time code.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more presented tags are further associated with specific products that are offered for sale in one or more interactive opportunities presented in synchronization with the content that is presented.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the content identifier and the at least one time code are used to assess consumer consumption of content assets with fine granularity.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing discovery of a different content for viewing, the discovery comprising:

requesting additional tags based on one or more filtering parameters;

receiving additional tags based on the filtering parameters;

reviewing one or more of the additional tags; and

selecting the different content for viewing based on the reviewed tags.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the one or more filtering parameters specify particular content characteristics selected from one of the following:

contents with particular levels of popularity;

contents that are currently available for viewing at movie theatres;

contents tagged by a particular person or group of persons; and

contents with a particular type of link to the content that is presented.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing selective review of content other than the content that is presented, the selective review comprising:

collecting one or more filtering parameters;

transmitting a request to the one or more tag servers for receiving further tags associated with content other than the content that is presented, the request comprising the one or more filtering parameters;

receiving further tag information and displaying, based on the further tag information, one or more further tags associated with content other than the content that is presented; and

upon selection of a particular tag from the one or more further tags, automatically starting playback of content other than the content presented, wherein playback starts from a first segment that is identified by a first time code stored within the particular tag.

29. A method, comprising:

providing at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device, and transmitting the at least one time code from a requesting device to one or more tag servers;

obtaining, at the one or more tag servers based on the at least one time code, a content identifier indicative of an identity of the content, and transmitting, to the requesting device, tag information corresponding the one or more content segments; and

presenting, by the requesting device, one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, wherein the one or more tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the requesting device is a second device that is capable of receiving at least a portion of the content that is presented by the first device.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the at least one time code represents one of:

a temporal location of the one or more content segments relative to the beginning of the content; and

a value representing an absolute date and time of presentation of the one or more segments by the first device.

32. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a server, information comprising at least one time code associated with a multimedia content, the at least one time code identifying a temporal location of a segment within the multimedia content;

obtaining a content identifier, the content identifier being indicative of an identity of the multimedia content;

obtaining tag information corresponding to the segment of the multimedia content; and

transmitting the tag information to a client device, wherein the tag information allows presentation of one or more tags on the client device, the one or more tags being persistently associated with the segment of the multimedia content.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the information received at the server comprises the content identifier.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the content identifier is obtained using the at least one time code and a program schedule.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein the server comprises a tag database comprising a plurality of tags associated with a plurality of multimedia contents, the tag database also comprising one or more of the following:

a number of times a particular tag has been transmitted to another entity;

a popularity measure associated with each tag;

a popularity measure associated with each multimedia content;

a number of times a particular multimedia content segment has been tagged;

a time stamp indicative of time and/or date of creation and/or retrieval of each tag; and

a link connecting a first tag to a second tag.

36. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

receiving, at the server, additional information corresponding to a new tag associated with the multimedia content;

generating the new tag based on (a) the additional information, (b) the content identifier and (c) a time code associated with the new tag; and

storing the new tag at the server.

37. A device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising processor executable code, the processor executable code, when executed by the processor, configures the device to;

obtain a content identifier and at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device;

transmit the content identifier and the at least one time code to one or more tag servers;

receive tag information for the one or more content segments; and

present one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, wherein the one or more tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device.

38. A device, comprising:

an information extraction component configured to obtain a content identifier and at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device;

a transmitter configured to transmit the content identifier and the at least one time code to one or more tag servers;

a receiver configured to receive tag information for the one or more content segments; and

a processor configured to enable presentation one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, wherein the one or more tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device.

39. The device of claim 38, wherein each time code identifies a temporal location of an associated content segment within the content timeline.

40. The device of claim 38, wherein the at least one time code is obtained from one or more watermarks embedded in the one or more content segments.

41. The device of claim 38, wherein:

the information extraction component comprises a watermark detector configured to extract an embedded watermark from the content to obtain at least a first portion of the embedded watermark payload corresponding to the content identifier; and

the transmitter is configured to transmit at least the first portion of the embedded watermark payload to the one or more tag servers.

42. The device of claim 38, wherein:

the information extraction component comprises a fingerprint computation component configured to compute one or more fingerprints from the one or more content segments; and

the transmitter is configured to transmit the computed one or more fingerprints to a fingerprint database, wherein the fingerprint database comprises stored fingerprints and associated content identification information for a plurality of contents to allow determination of the content identifier and the at least one time code by comparing the computed fingerprints with the stored fingerprints.

43. The device of claim 38, wherein the processor is configured to enable presentation of the tags on a portion of a display on the first device.

44. The device of claim 38, configured to obtain at least a portion of the one or more content segments through one or both of a microphone and a camera;

and

wherein the device further comprises a screen and the processor is configured to enable presentation of the one or more tags on the screen.

45. The device of claim 44, wherein the device is further configured to operate as a remote control of the first device.

46. The device claim 45, wherein the device is further configured to a present a graphical user interface that enables one or more of the following functionalities:

pausing of the content that is presented by the first device;

resuming playback of the content that is presented by the first device;

showing the one or more tags;

mirroring a screen of the first device and a screen of the device such that both screens display the same content;

swapping the content that is presented on a screen of the first device with content presented on a screen of the device; and

generating a tag in synchronization with the at least one time code.

47. The device of claim 38, wherein the processor is further configured to enable presentation of one or more fields on a graphical user interface to allow a user to generate an additional tag that is associated with the one or more content segments through the at least one time code.

48. The device of claim 47, wherein the one or more fields enable the user to perform at least one of the following operations:

enter a text in the one or more fields;

express an opinion related to the one or more content segments;

vote on an aspect of the one or more content segments; and

generate a quick tag.

49. The device of claim 47, wherein the additional tag is a blank tag that is persistently associated with the one or more segments and includes a blank body to allow completion of the blank body at a future time.

50. The device of claim 49, wherein the blank tag allows one or more of the following content sections to be tagged:

a part the content that was just presented by the first device;

a current scene that is presented by the first device,

last action that was presented by the first device, and

current conversation that is presented by the first device.

51. The device of claim 47, wherein the additional tag is linked to another tag through a predefined relationship and wherein the predefined relationship is stored as part of the additional tag.

52. The device of claim 51, wherein the predefined relationship comprises one or more of:

a derivative relationship, a similar relationship and a synchronization relationship.

53. The device of claim 38, wherein the processor is further configured to enable generation of an additional tag that is indirectly linked to a corresponding tag of a content different from the content that is presented by the first device, wherein:

the indirect linkage of the additional tag is not stored as part of the additional tag but is retained at the one or more tag servers.

54. The device of claim 38, wherein the processor is configured to enable presentation of the one or more tags on a graphical user interface as one or more corresponding icons that are superimposed on a timeline of the content, and wherein at least one icon is connected to at least another icon using a line that is representative of a link between the at least one icon and the at least another icon.

55. The device of claim 54, wherein the processor is configured to allow selective zoom in and zoom out of the timeline, thereby enabling viewing of the one or more tags with a particular granularity.

56. The device of claim 38, wherein each of the one or more tags comprises a header section that includes:

a content identifier field that includes information identifying the content asset that each tag is associated with;

a time code that identifies particular segment(s) of the content asset that each tag is associated with; and

a tag address that uniquely identifies each tag.

57. The device of claim 56, wherein each of the one or more tags comprises a body that includes:

a body type field;

one or more data elements; and

a number and size of the data elements.

58. The device of claim 38, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the content identifier and the at least one time code by estimating the content identifier and the at least one time code from previously obtained content identifier and time code(s).

59. The device of claim 38, wherein the processor is further configured to enable presentation of a purchasing opportunity that is triggered based upon the at least one time code.

60. The device of claim 59, wherein:

the one or more tags are associated with specific products; and

the processor is further configured to enable offers for sale of the specific products through presentation of an interactive opportunity to a user in synchronization with the content that is presented by the first device.

61. The device of claim 38, wherein the processor is configured to allow discovery of a different content for viewing, the discovery comprising:

requesting additional tags based on one or more filtering parameters;

receiving additional tags based on the filtering parameters;

reviewing one or more of the additional tags; and

selecting the different content for viewing based on the reviewed tags.

62. The device of claim 61, wherein the one or more filtering parameters specify particular content characteristics selected from one of the following:

contents with particular levels of popularity;

contents that are currently available for viewing at movie theatres;

contents tagged by a particular person or group of persons; and

contents with a particular type of link to the content that is presented by the first device.

63. The device of claim 38, wherein the processor is configured to allow selective review of content other than the content that is presented, the selective review comprising:

collecting one or more filtering parameters;

transmitting a request to the one or more tag servers for receiving further tags associated with content other than the content that is presented by the first device, the request comprising the one or more filtering parameters;

receiving further tag information and displaying, based on the further tag information, one or more further tags associated with content other than the content that is presented; and

upon selection of a particular tag from the one or more further tags, automatically starting playback of content other than the content that is presented by the first device, wherein playback starts from a first segment that is identified by a first time code stored within the particular tag.

64. A system, comprising:

a second device configured to obtain at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device, and to transmit the at least one time code to one or more tag servers; and

one or more tag servers configured to obtain, based on the at least one time code, a content identifier indicative of an identity of the content, and transmit, to the second device, tag information corresponding the one or more content segments, wherein;

the second device is further configured to allow presentation of one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, the one or more tags persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device.

65. The device of claim 64, wherein the second device is capable of receiving at least a portion of the content that is presented by the first device through one or a microphone and a camera.

66. The device of claim 64, wherein the at least one time code represents one of:

a temporal location of the one or more content segments relative to the beginning of the content; and

a value representing an absolute date and time of presentation of the one or more segments by the first device.

67. The device of claim 64, wherein second device comprises a watermark extractor configured to extract the at least one time code from the one or more content segments.

68. A device, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive information comprising at least one time code associated with a multimedia content, the at least one time code identifying a temporal location of a segment within the multimedia content;

a processor configured to obtain (a) a content identifier, the content identifier being indicative of an identity of the multimedia content, and (b) tag information corresponding to the segment of the multimedia content; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the tag information to a client device, wherein the tag information allows presentation of one or more tags on the client device, the one or more tags being persistently associated with the segment of the multimedia content.

69. The device of claim 68, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the content identifier from the received information.

70. The device of claim 68, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the content identifier using the at least one time code and a program schedule.

71. The device of claim 68, further comprising a tag database comprising a plurality of tags associated with a plurality of multimedia contents, the tag database also comprising one or more of the following:

a number of times a particular tag has been transmitted to another entity;

a popularity measure associated with each tag;

a popularity measure associated with each multimedia content;

a number of times a particular multimedia content segment has been tagged;

a time stamp indicative of time and/or date of creation and/or retrieval of each tag; and

a link connecting a first tag to a second tag.

72. The device of claim 68, further comprising a storage device, wherein:

the receiver is further configured to receive additional information corresponding to a new tag associated with the multimedia content; and

the processor is configured to generate the new tag based on at least (a) the additional information, (b) the content identifier and (c) a time code associated with the new tag, and to store the new tag at storage device.

73. A system comprising:

a second device; and

a server,

wherein the second device comprises;

(a) an information extraction component configured to obtain a content identifier and at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device, the at least one time code identifying a temporal location of a segment within the content,

(b) a transmitter configured to transmit the content identifier and the at least one time code to one or more servers,

(c) a receiver configured to receive tag information for the one or more content segments, and

(d) a processor configured to enable presentation one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, wherein the one or more tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device, and

wherein the server comprises;

(e) a receiver configured to receive information transmitted by the second device;

(f) a processor configured to obtain the at least one time code, the content identifier, and tag information corresponding to the one or more segments of the content; and

(g) a transmitter configured to transmit the tag information to the second device.

74. A method comprising:

obtaining, at a second device, a content identifier and at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device, the at least one time code identifying a temporal location of a segment within the multimedia content, the content identifier being indicative of an identity of the multimedia content;

transmitting, by the second device, the content identifier and the at least one time code to one or more tag servers;

receiving, at the one or more servers, information comprising the content identifier and the at least one time code;

obtaining, at the one or more servers, tag information corresponding to one or more segments of the content;

transmitting, by the one or more servers, the tag information to a client device;

receiving, at the second device, tag information for the one or more content segments; and

presenting one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, wherein the one or more tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device.

75. A computer program product, embodied on one or more non-transitory computer media, comprising:

program code for obtaining a content identifier and at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device;

program code for transmitting the content identifier and the at least one time code to one or more tag servers;

program code for receiving tag information for the one or more content segments; and

program code for presenting one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, wherein the one or more tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device.

76. A computer program product, embodied on one or more non-transitory computer media, comprising:

program code for providing at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device, and transmitting the at least one time code from a requesting device to one or more tag servers;

program code for obtaining, at the one or more tag servers based on the at least one time code, a content identifier indicative of an identity of the content, and transmitting, to the requesting device, tag information corresponding the one or more content segments; and

program code for presenting, by the requesting device, one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, wherein the one or more tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device.

77. A computer program product, embodied on one or more non-transitory computer media, comprising:

program code for receiving, at a server, information comprising at least one time code associated with a multimedia content, the at least one time code identifying a temporal location of a segment within the multimedia content;

program code for obtaining a content identifier, the content identifier being indicative of an identity of the multimedia content;

program code for obtaining tag information corresponding to the segment of the multimedia content; and

program code for transmitting the tag information to a client device, wherein the tag information allows presentation of one or more tags on the client device, the one or more tags being persistently associated with the segment of the multimedia content.

78. A computer program product, embodied on one or more non-transitory computer media, comprising:

program code for obtaining, at a second device, a content identifier and at least one time code associated with one or more content segments of a content that is presented by a first device, the at least one time code identifying a temporal location of a segment within the multimedia content, the content identifier being indicative of an identity of the multimedia content;

program code for transmitting, by the second device, the content identifier and the at least one time code to one or more tag servers;

program code for receiving, at the one or more servers, information comprising the content identifier and the at least one time code;

program code for obtaining, at the one or more servers, tag information corresponding to one or more segments of the content;

program code for transmitting, by the one or more servers, the tag information to a client device;

program code for receiving, at the second device, tag information for the one or more content segments; and

program code for presenting one or more tags in accordance with the tag information, wherein the one or more tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the one or more content segments within the content that is presented by the first device.