System, method and computer program product for automatically selecting, suggesting and playing music media files

• US 7,542,816 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2005
• Issued: 06/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Outland Research LLC
• Inventors: Rosenberg, Louis B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz; Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCCORD, PAUL C
• Application Number:
  US11/267,079
• Publication Number:
  US 20060167576A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,307 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 700/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/436 using biological or physiological data of a human being, e.g. blood pressure, facial expression, gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/487 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/489 using time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/636 by using biological or physiological data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

System, method and computer program product to intelligently correlate ambient sensor signals, chronographic information, daily life schedule information, and/or external meteorological information with a user'"'"'s previous music media file selection patterns for predicting future music media file play recommendations to a user of a portable media player. The sensors include but are not limited to a meteorological sensor, a physiological sensor, a geo-spatial sensor, a motion sensor, an inclination sensor, an environmental sensor, and a combination thereof. Music media file selection information includes user spontaneous selections of music media files and/or user acceptances or rejections of software suggested music media files. Various embodiments of the invention provide for gait matching and/or tempo adjustment in dependence on the received sensor signals and the selection, suggestion and/or automatic play of music media files.

Claims

1. A predictive music media selection system for a portable media player comprising:

a processor;

a main memory coupled to said processor;

a communications infrastructure coupled to said processor;

a user interface coupled to the processor for accepting a user input;

a secondary memory coupled to said communications infrastructure having retrievably stored therein;

a plurality of music media files playable by said processor;

a store of ambient influence information relationally associated with each of said plurality of music media files;

an ambient factors providing circuit operatively coupled to said communications infrastructure for determining a plurality of current ambient factors;

said main memory comprising at least one predictive program stored therein, having a plurality of instructions executable by said processor to;

automatically suggest to the user one of said plurality of music media files stored in said secondary memory, the automatic suggestion being made in at least partial dependence on an assessment of correlation between said plurality of current ambient factors and said store of ambient influence information; and

optionally and selectively accept the automatically suggested musical media file based on a determination that the user input indicates an optional and selective acceptance of the suggested musical media file, the optional and selective acceptance comprising a selection of a user-interface option provided by the at least one predictive program based on the assessment of correlation,

whereby, if an automatically suggested media file is not specifically accepted, the automatically suggested media file is deemed rejected and is automatically replaced by a subsequent automatically suggested media file of the plurality of musical media files, the subsequent automatically suggested media file also being suggested in at least partial dependence on an assessment of a correlation between the plurality of current ambient factors and the store of ambient influence information.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one predictive program further includes a plurality of instructions executable by said processor to perform at least one action selected from a group consisting essentially of selecting, suggesting, and automatically playing at least one of said plurality of music media files using a weighted random selection process.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said weighting is derived at least in part from a correlation between said plurality of current ambient factors and said store of ambient influence information.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one predictive program further includes a plurality of instructions executable by said processor to perform at least one action, selected from a group consisting essentially of altering a tempo and matching a gait of a user, on a playing music media file in dependence on[at least one sensor signal] said current ambient factors.

5. A computer program product for a portable media player embodied in a tangible form having a plurality of instructions executable by a processor to perform at least one action selected from a group consisting of automatically selecting, automatically suggesting, and automatically playing at least one music file from a plurality of music media files stored in a datastore in dependence on an assessment of correlation between a plurality of current ambient factors and accumulated ambient influence information,

wherein said instructions further includes a plurality of instructions executable by said processor to monitor a plurality of user'"'"'s media selections upon said portable media player and said plurality of current ambient factors to determine said correlation and optionally and selectively accept the automatically suggested musical media file based on a determination that a user input indicates an optional and selective acceptance of the suggested musical media file, the optional and selective acceptance comprising a selection of a user-interface option provided by the at instructions based on the assessment of correlation, whereby, if an automatically suggested media file is not specifically accepted, the automatically suggested media file is deemed rejected and is automatically replaced by a subsequent automatically suggested media file of the plurality of musical media files, the subsequent automatically suggested media file also being suggested in at least partial dependence on an assessment of a correlation between the plurality of current ambient factors and the store accumulated ambient influence information.

6. The computer program product according to claim 5, wherein said plurality of instructions further includes a plurality of instructions executable by said processor to retrievably store said correlation in a relational association with said accumulated ambient influence information.

7. The computer program product according to claim 5, wherein said plurality of instructions further includes a plurality of instructions executable by said processor to perform at least one action, selected from a group consisting essentially of altering a tempo and matching a gait of a user, of a playing music media file in dependence on said current ambient factors.

8. The computer program product according to claim 5, wherein said accumulated ambient influence information includes a plurality of established relationships between a plurality of user'"'"'s music preferences and at least said plurality of current ambient factors.

9. The computer program product according to claim 5, wherein said tangible form comprises at least one element selected from a group consisting essentially of magnetic media, optical median, and logical media.

10. A method of providing a predictive music media selection system for a portable media player comprising:

providing a processor;

providing a main memory coupled to said processor;

providing a communications infrastructure coupled to said processor;

providing a user-interface coupled to the processor for accepting a user input;

providing a secondary memory coupled to said communications infrastructure having retrievably stored therein;

providing a plurality of music media files playable by said processor;

providing a store of ambient influence information relationally associated with each of said plurality of music media files;

providing an ambient-factors-providing circuit operatively coupled to said communications infrastructure for determining a plurality of current ambient factors;

encoding within said main memory at least one predictive program, stored therein and having instructions executable by said processor to;

automatically suggest to the user one of said plurality of music media files stored in said secondary memory, the automatic suggestion being made in at least partial dependence on an assessment of a correlation between said plurality of current ambient factors and said store of ambient influence information; and

optionally and selectively accept the automatically suggested musical media file based on a determination that the user input indicates an optional and selective acceptance of the suggested musical media file, the optional and selective acceptance comprising a selection of a user-interface option provided by the at least one predictive program based on the assessment of correlation,

whereby, if an automatically suggested media file is not specifically accepted, the automatically suggested media file is deemed rejected and is automatically replaced by a subsequent automatically suggested media file of the plurality of musical media files, the subsequent automatically suggested media file also being suggested in at least partial dependence on an assessment of a correlation between the plurality of current ambient factors and the store of ambient influence information.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said at least one predictive program providing step further comprises providing the plurality of instructions executable by said processor to perform at least one action selected from a group consisting essentially of selecting, suggesting, and automatically playing at least one of said plurality of music media files using a weighted random selection process.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of instructions providing step comprises using the weighted random selection process by weighting derived, at least in part, from a correlation between said current ambient factors and said store of ambient influence information.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein said at least one predictive program providing step further comprises providing the plurality of instructions executable by said processor to perform at least one action, selected from a group consisting essentially of altering a tempo and matching a gait of a user, on a playing music media file in dependence on said current ambient factors.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the current ambient factors include data indicative of user motion characteristics.

15. The method according to claim 10, wherein the ambient-factors-providing circuit accesses a current weather condition for the user and wherein the automatically suggested media file is suggested based at least in part upon said current weather condition.

16. The method according to claim 10, wherein the automatically suggested media file is suggested based in part upon at least one of the current air temperature, the current sun conditions, and the current season of the year.