Method and system and article of manufacture for display of option recommendations through time-by-score

• US 6,839,072 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2001
• Issued: 01/04/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Philips Electronics North America Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Trajkovic, Miroslav, Gutta, Srinivas, Kurapati, Kaushal
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh, Ba
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thai, Cuong T.
• Application Number:
  US09/882,894
• Publication Number:
  US 20020191030A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,299 Days
• Field of Search: 345/834, 345/810, 345/854, 345/811, 345/812, 345/821, 345/822, 345/825, 345/814, 345/844, 345/816, 345719-721, 345/765, 345/866, 725/39, 725/44, 725/46, 725/52
• US Class Current: 715/811
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; 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 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72

Abstract

A system, method, and article of manufacture is disclosed suitable for displaying selectable time orderable options, such as television programs available for viewing on a television, using a tunnel interface. The tunnel interface displays concentric rings where each ring represents a different set of option data whose attributes are modified to reflect a user'"'"'s preferences. The modified option data are further arranged such that each concentric ring is ordered by time. Additionally, choices within each ring are visually distinguishable by user preference. Users can navigate within and between the concentric rings and select one or more of the available options using the concentric rings.

Claims

1. A system for presentation of recommendations of time orderable options from a set of selectable options wherein certain of the options may be more preferable to a user than others based on the user'"'"'s preferences, comprising:

a. option data comprising attributes, the option data attributes comprising descriptions of the option data, at least one description comprising a time of availability of each option datum;

a. at least one user profile comprising attributes describing option selection preferences for a user, the option selection preferences comprising;

i. the user'"'"'s recommendation preferences for one or more option data; and

ii. visual display preferences for option data matching the user'"'"'s recommendation preferences;

b. a persistent data store containing the at least one profile and the option data;

d. a display; and

e. a selector, the selector programmed to;

i. match a first predetermined set of profile attributes comprising the user'"'"'s recommendation preferences to a corresponding first set of option data attributes;

ii. modify a second predetermined set of option data attributes to correspond to a second predetermined set of profile attributes comprising the user'"'"'s visual display preferences for each option datum matched;

iii. create a set of concentric rings, each ring representing the option data as modified, each ring further corresponding to a predetermined time frame; and

iv. display the set of concentric rings on the display.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising an input device capable of identifying at least one user, wherein the selector is further programed to:

v. acquire an identity of the user via the input device; and

vi. acquire a profile from the persistent data store for the user so identified.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the selector acquires a profile matching the user for users with matching profiles and a default profile for users who do not have matching profiles.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the input device is a television remote control.

5. The system of claim 2 wherein the selector is further programmed to:

v. allow the user to navigate between the concentric rings using the input device; and

vi. accept the user'"'"'s selection of an option from the displayed concentric rings using the input device.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein:

a. the display is a television; and

b. the option data are data describing television programs available for viewing.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the selector is selected from the group of selectors consisting of microprocessors embedded within a television, application specific integrated circuits embedded within a television, set top boxes operatively connected to a television, and external computers operatively connected to a television.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the persistent data store is a plurality of persistent data stores, each operatively connected to the selector.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the second predetermined set of attributes within the option data are selected from the set of attributes consisting of brightness, contract, opacity, color, borders, font, and combinations thereof.

10. A system for presentation of recommendations of time orderable options from a set of selectable time orderable options wherein certain of the options may be more preferable to a user than other options, based on the user'"'"'s preferences, the system comprising:

a. a first storage means for retrievably storing option data, the option data comprising attributes, the option data attributes comprising descriptions of options wherein at least one attribute describes a time of availability for each datum;

b. a second storage means for retrievably storing at least one profile comprising attributes describing option selection preferences for a user, the option selection preferences comprising;

i. the user'"'"'s option recommendation preferences; and

ii. the user'"'"'s visual display preferences for option data matching the user'"'"'s option recommendation preferences;

c. input means capable of identifying at least one user;

d. adisplay; and

e. selector means for

i. acquiring an identity of the user via the input means;

ii. acquiring the profile from the second storage means for the user so identified;

iii. matching a first predetermined set of option recommendation preference attributes within the profile with a corresponding first set of attributes within the option data;

iv. modifying a second predetermined set of attributes within the option data to correspond to a second set of visual display preferences attributes within the profile;

v. creating a set of concentric rings, each ring representing the modified second predetermined set of attributes within the option data; and

vi. displaying the set of concentric rings on the display.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the selector means further comprises:

i. means for allowing the user to navigate between the concentric rings using the input means; and

ii. means for accepting the user'"'"'s input of an option from the displayed concentric rings.

12. A method for presentation of recommendations of time orderable options from a set of selectable time orderable options wherein certain of the options may be more preferable to a user than other of the options, based on the user'"'"'s preferences, the method comprising:

a. acquiring an identity of a user via an input device;

b. acquiring a profile from a persistent data store for the user so identified, the profile comprising user modifiable attributes, the user modifiable attributes comprising;

i. the user'"'"'s option recommendation preferences; and

ii. the user'"'"'s visual display preferences for option data matching the user'"'"'s recommendation preferences;

c. matching a first predetermined set of option recommendation preference attributes within the profile with a corresponding first set of attributes within the option data;

d. modifying a second predetermined set of attributes within the option data to correspond to a second set of visual display preferences attributes within the profile;

e. creating a set of concentric ring data structures, each concentric ring data structure representing the modified second predetermined set of attributes within the option data; and

f. displaying a set of concentric rings, described by the concentric ring data structures, on a display.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

g. allowing the identified user to navigate between the concentric rings using the input device; and

h. accepting the identified user'"'"'s input of an option from the displayed concentric rings using the input device.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the option data describe television programs.

15. The method of claim 12 performed within a computer program embodied within a computer-readable medium.

16. An option recommendation display system stored via a data storage medium, comprising:

a. first plurality of binary values for receiving a set of time orderable option data, the time orderable option data comprising attributes, the attributes comprising descriptions embodied within each datum of the option data, at least one attribute being a time of availability for the time orderable option datum;

b. a second plurality of binary values for storing at least one user profile comprising attributes describing user option recommendation preferences;

c. a third plurality of binary values for creating a set of data structures, the data structures comprising a predetermined set of the option data modified by a predetermined set of the user option recommendation preferences in the user profile; and

d. a fourth plurality of binary values useful for displaying the set of data structures as a set of concentric rings.