Dynamic Video Streaming Based on Viewer Activity

• US 20160080448A1
• Filed: 09/11/2014
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Spears, Stacey L., Wu, Haoyun
• Granted Patent: US 10,129,312 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44213 Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44218 Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6379 directed to encoder , e.g. for requesting a lower encoding rate

Abstract

In some examples, techniques and architectures for modifying resolution of video displayed on a display device include receiving information from a distance sensor and one or more image sensors, detecting an activity of a viewer of the display device based, at least in part, on the information received from the distance sensor and the one or more image sensors, and transmitting a request to a remote server to adjust bandwidth of media content streaming to the display device to a new bandwidth. The new bandwidth may be based, at least in part, on one or more of the activity of the viewer, size of the display device, or an ability of the viewer to resolve images displayed on the display device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving distance information from a distance sensor and image information from one or more image sensors;

detecting an activity of a viewer of a display device based, at least in part, on the image information received from the one or more image sensors;

determining a distance between the viewer and the display device based, at least in part, on the distance information; and

transmitting a request to a remote server to adjust bandwidth of media content streaming to the display device to a new bandwidth, wherein the new bandwidth is based, at least in part, on at least one of the activity of the viewer, size of the display device, or the distance between the viewer and the display device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing a distance between the viewer and the display device and a visual acuity of the viewer to determine an ability of the viewer to resolve images displayed on the display device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the activity of the viewer comprises sleeping.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising instructing the display device to display a prompt that allows the viewer to override the request to the remote server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the activity of the viewer comprises moving from a first viewing distance to a second viewing distance.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing a history of behavior of the viewer with the activity of the viewer; and

delaying the request to the remote server based, at least in part, on the comparing.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

testing visual acuity of the viewer to determine the ability of the viewer to resolve images displayed on the display device, wherein the new bandwidth is further based, at least in part, on results of the visual acuity of the viewer.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting whether the viewer is wearing corrective lenses by using the one or more image sensors, wherein the new bandwidth is further based, at least in part, on results of the detecting.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the request to the remote server is performed while the display device displays video.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the request to the remote server includes a request to the remote server to stream an audio portion of the media content without streaming a video portion of the media content.

11. A system comprising:

a distance sensor and one or more image sensors;

a display device;

one or more processing units; and

computer-readable media with modules thereon, the modules comprising;

a detecting module to detect respective distances between the display device and two or more viewers of the display device based, at least in part, on information from the distance sensor and the one or more image sensors; and

a transmitting module to transmit a request to a remote server to adjust bandwidth of media content streaming to the display device to a new bandwidth, wherein the new bandwidth is based, at least in part, on size of the display device and a comparison between the respective distances between the display device and the two or more viewers and visual acuity of the two or more viewers.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the modules further comprise an image generating module to generate a range image having pixel values that correspond to the respective distances from the display to the two or more viewers based, at least in part, on information from the distance sensor in combination with information from the one or more image sensors.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the modules further comprise:

an activity detecting module to detect activities of the two or more viewers based, at least in part, on information from the distance sensor and the one or more image sensors; and

a categorizing module to categorize the activities into individual groups based, at least in part, on activity type.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the new bandwidth is based, at least in part, on the number of the activities in the individual groups.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the activities of the two or more viewers comprise sleeping or talking.

16. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, configure a computer to perform acts comprising:

using distance information from a distance sensor to determine a distance between a viewer of a display device and the display device;

using image information from one or more image sensors to detect an activity of the viewer of the display device; and

generating a request for a remote server to adjust bandwidth of media content streaming to the display device to a new bandwidth, wherein the new bandwidth is based, at least in part, on the activity of the viewer, size of the display device, and the distance between the viewer and the display device.

17. The computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the acts further comprise:

determining a distance between the viewer and the display device using the information from the distance sensor, wherein the ability of the viewer to resolve images displayed on the display device is based, at least in part, on the distance between the viewer and the display device.

18. The computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the acts further comprise:

comparing a history of behavior of the viewer with the activity of the viewer; and

modifying the request to the remote server based, at least in part, on the comparing.

19. The computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein the activity of the viewer comprises talking.

20. The computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the request includes a request for the remote server to stream an audio portion of the media content without streaming a video portion of the media content.