User interface methods and systems for device-independent media transactions

• US 7,600,243 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2006
• Issued: 10/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Open Box Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Open Box Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Brain, Cameron W., Rabinovich, Michael P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kelley; Christopher
• Assistant Examiner(s): FLYNN, RANDY A
• Application Number:
  US11/392,259
• Publication Number:
  US 20060236243A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,287 Days
• Field of Search: 725/44, 725/45, 725/52, 725/53, 725/87, 725/101, 725/104, 725/61
• US Class Current: 725/44
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234309 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 or from Quicktime to Realvideo conversion of standards in analog television systems H04N7/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

Methods, systems, techniques, and computer-readable media for device-independent media transactions, such as the transaction, acquisition, presentation, and publication of media, are provided. Example embodiments provide a Device Independent Video Transaction System (“DIVTS”), which enables a user to transact for media such as streamed video on any device that can receive streamed data over a broadband connection and output video data to a display. In one embodiment, the DIVTS comprises a user interface which is based upon a “quilt” metaphor and is configured to present a uniform mechanism for specifying media to be acquired, directing the presentation of acquired media, and initiating transactions related to the specified media. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Claims

1. A method in a single computing device for interacting with a user operating a video transaction system installed on the single computing device, comprising:

generating a graphical representation comprising multiple panels of a quilt-based user interface, the graphical representation indicating a geometric layout of the multiple panels, each panel being connected to at least one other of the multiple panels and having at least one associated action that initiates invocation of at least one of multiple functions provided by the video transaction system, the multiple functions including at least video item transaction initiation, video item acquisition, and video item presentation;

presenting a first one of the multiple panels as a current panel, the first panel displaying indicators of multiple categories of video items associated with the first panel, and the first panel substantially obscuring a second one of the multiple panels, the second panel having an associated selected category of video items;

in response to a first received input event that selects one of the indicated multiple categories of video items associated with the first panel, wherein the selected category of video items associated with the first panel is not contained by the selected category of video items associated with the second panel,

identifying a third one of the multiple panels as the current panel, the third panel displaying indicators of multiple video items that are each included in both the selected category of video items associated with the first panel and the selected category of video items associated with the second panel, and

animating a transition from the first panel to the third panel to cause the third panel to be displayed, the third panel displaying a connector to the first panel and a connector to the second panel, the connector to the first panel indicating the selected category of video items associated with the first panel, and the connector to the second panel indicating that the first panel substantially obscures the second panel; and

in response to a second received input event that selects a video item from the indicators of multiple video items displayed in the third panel,

animating navigation amongst at least some of the multiple panels other than the first, second, and third panels, the at least some panels providing information about the selected video item, the animating including displaying the connections between the at least some panels, so that the geometric layout of the multiple panels relative to each other is evident to the user.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting the first one of the multiple panels includes displaying the first panel using a viewport that constrains display of the multiple panels, wherein the viewport is invisible to a user and the animating the transition is perceived by the user as the display shifting from the first panel to the second panel.

3. The method of claim 1, the video item acquisition function comprising obtaining at least some of a specified video item from a video source.

4. The method of claim 1, the video item transaction initiating function comprising initiating payment of money in exchange for goods and/or services related to specified video items.

5. The method of claim 1, the video item transaction initiating function comprising initiating a search for video items based at least in part on one or more specified categories.

6. The method of claim 1, the video item presentation function comprising initiating display of a portion of an acquired video item on a display device coupled to the single computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the second panel such that it appears to be at least partially on top of the first panel and presenting an indication that the first panel is under the second panel.

8. The method of claim 1, the animating the transition from the first panel to the third panel further comprising shifting the first panel out of a viewport while shifting the second panel into the viewport.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one action associated with each of the at least some of the multiple panels other than the first, second, or third panels comprises at least one of presenting a preview of the selected video item, presenting a review of the selected video item, presenting an image from the selected video item, or presenting a synopsis of the selected video item.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the multiple panels are automatically generated based at least in part on a media categorization data structure.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the multiple functions further include video item publishing by providing an indication of the selected video item to a media sink via a network connection.

12. A method in a single computing device for interacting with a user operating a media transaction system installed on the single computing device, comprising:

generating a graphical representation of a quilt-based user interface comprising multiple panels, each panel being connected to at least one other of the multiple panels and having at least one associated action that initiates invocation of at least one of multiple functions provided by the media transaction system;

presenting a first one of the multiple panels as a current panel, the first panel displaying indicators of multiple categories of media items associated with the first panel, and the first panel substantially obscuring a second one of the multiple panels, the second panel having an associated selected category of media items;

in response to a first received input event that selects one of the indicated multiple categories of media items associated with the first panel,

identifying a third one of the multiple panels as the current panel, the third panel displaying indicators of multiple media items that are each included in both the selected category of media items associated with the first panel and the selected category of media items associated with the second panel; and

animating a transition from the first panel to the third panel to cause the third panel to be displayed, the third panel displaying a connector to the first panel and a connector to the second panel, the connector to the first panel indicating the selected category of media items associated with the first panel, and the connector to the second panel indicating that the first panel substantially obscures the second panel; and

in response to a second received input event that selects a media item from indicators of multiple media items displayed by the third panel,

presenting a fourth panel of the multiple panels; and

initiating performance of the at least one action associated with the fourth panel, the action relating to at least one of acquiring the selected media item, performing a transaction related to the selected media item, or presenting a portion of the selected media item.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the first or second received input event is at least one of an up event, a down event, a left event, a right event, or a select event.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the second received input event is a directional input event having an associated direction, the third panel is connected to the fourth panel in the associated direction, and the fourth panel is presented in response to the second received input event.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the associated direction is one of up, down, left, right.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the fourth panel is presented in place of the third panel.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the second received input event is a select input event, and wherein the fourth panel is presented in response to the second received input event.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein the presenting the fourth panel comprises animating a transition from the third panel to the fourth panel, the animating including displaying a connection between the third and fourth panel, so that positions of the third and fourth panels relative to each other are evident to the user.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the animating the transition from the third panel to the fourth panel comprises shifting the third panel out of a viewport and shifting the fourth panel into the viewport.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the shifting the third panel out of the viewport and shifting the fourth panel into the viewport comprises presenting a perception of a smooth transition from the third panel to the fourth panel.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the animating the transition from the third panel to the fourth panel further comprises a zooming or panning operation.

22. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

presenting results of a media item search based at least in part on the selected category of media items associated with the first panel and the selected category of media items associated with the second panel.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the selected category of media items associated with the first panel contains a first set of one or more media items, the selected category of media items associated with the second panel contains a second set of one or more media items, and the media item search comprises performing a set intersection of the first set of one or more media items and the second set of one or more media items.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein displaying the first panel includes presenting an indication that suggests that the first panel is over the second panel.

25. The method of claim 12 wherein the at least some of the multiple panels are automatically generated based at least in part on a data structure that represents categories of media items.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the data structure is a media categorization graph comprising multiple nodes each indicating a category or a media item, and each connected to at least one of the multiple nodes.

27. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

highlighting, in response to the first received input event, the selected category of media items associated with the first panel.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the first received input event is an up event or a down event.

29. The method of claim 12 wherein the multiple panels of the quilt-based user interface appear to be laid out on a single plane and further comprising presenting the first panel from -an orientation perpendicular to the quilt-based user interface, thereby providing a viewing perspective of the first panel that is orthogonal to the plane of the quilt-based user interface.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the orientation is adjustable in response to a received input event.

31. The method of claim 29 wherein the orientation is provided using a viewport that supports panning and/or zooming from different angles relative to the plane of the quilt-based user interface.

32. The method of claim 12, further comprising using a viewport to present one or more of the multiple panels.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the viewport supports an operation to zoom in and/or zoom out to display fewer or more, respectively, of the multiple panels in response to a received input event.

34. The method of claim 12, the presenting the portion of the selected media item comprising initiating display of the portion of the selected media item on a display device coupled to the single computing device.

35. The method of claim 12, the performing the transaction related to the selected media item comprising initiating payment of money in exchange for goods and/or services related to the selected media item.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the goods include items portrayed in the selected media item.

37. The method of claim 12 wherein the media transaction system is a video transaction system.

38. The method of claim 12, the presenting the first panel comprising initiating display of the first panel on a display device coupled to the single computing device.

39. The method of claim 12 wherein the first received input event is received from a user input device communicatively coupled to the single computing device.

40. The method of claim 12 wherein the user input device is at least one of a joystick, a mouse, a pointing device, a remote controller, a button, or a keyboard.

41. The method of claim 12 wherein the single computing device is at least one of a desktop computing system, a laptop computing system, a set top box, a gaming system, a palmtop computing system, or a cellular telephone.

42. A computer readable memory medium whose contents enable a single computing device to interact with a user operating a media transaction system installed on the single computing device, by performing a method comprising:

generating a representation of a quilt-based user interface comprising multiple panels, each panel being connected to at least one other of the multiple panels and having at least one associated action for initiating invocation of at least one of a plurality of media transaction functions;

presenting a first one of the multiple panels, the first panel displaying indicators of multiple categories of media items associated with the first panel, and the first panel substantially obscuring a second one of the multiple panels, the second panel having an associated selected category of media items;

in response to a first received input event, that selects one of the indicated multiple categories of media items associated with the first panel,

identifying a third one of the multiple panels as the current panel, the third panel displaying indicators of multiple media items that are each included in both the selected category of media items associated with the first panel and the selected category of media items associated with the second panel; and

animating a transition from the first panel to the third panel to cause the third panel to be displayed, the third panel displaying a connector to the first panel and a connector to the second panel, the connector to the first panel indicating the selected category of media items associated with the first panel, and the connector to the second panel indicating that the first panel substantially obscures the second panel; and

in response to a second received input event that selects a media item from indicators of multiple media items displayed by the third panel,

presenting a fourth panel of the multiple panels; and

initiating performance of the at least one action associated with the fourth panel, the action relating to at least one of acquiring the selected media item, performing a transaction related to the selected media item, or presenting a portion of the selected media item.

43. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42 wherein the computer readable memory medium is a memory of a computing system.

44. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42 wherein the contents are instructions that, when executed, cause the computing system to perform the method.

45. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42 wherein the second received input event is a directional input event having an associated direction, the third panel is connected to the fourth panel in the associated direction, and the fourth panel is displayed in response to the second received input event.

46. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42, the presenting the fourth panel comprising animating a transition from the third panel to the fourth panel.

47. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42 wherein the identified panel includes multiple indications of media title categories, the received input event is a selection one of the multiple indications of media title categories, and further comprising:

initiating a search in response to the first received input event; and

displaying the third panel with contents based at least in part on the search, the contents including the multiple indicators of media items.

48. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42 wherein at least some of the multiple panels are automatically generated based at least in part on a media categorization graph.

49. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42 wherein the selected category of media items associated with the first panel is highlighted in response to the first received input event.

50. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42 wherein presenting a portion of the selected media item comprises initiating display of the portion of the selected media item on a display device coupled to the single computing device.

51. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42 wherein performing the transaction related to the selected media item comprises initiating payment of money in exchange for goods and/or services related to the selected media item.

52. The computer readable memory medium of claim 42 wherein acquiring the selected media item comprises obtaining at least some of the selected media item from a video source.

53. A graphical user interface that enables a single computing device to interact with a user operating a media transaction system installed on the single computing device, the user interface comprising:

an arrangement of multiple panels that together present a quilt metaphor, each connected to at least one other of the multiple panels, each panel having at least one associated action that causes invocation of at least one of a plurality of functions provided by the media transaction system;

a dispatcher configured to, in response to a received input event associated with an identified panel, initiate performance of the action associated with the identified panel, the action relating to at least one of determining a selected media, performing a transaction related to the selected media, or presenting a portion of the selected media; and

a display mechanism configured to present the at least the identified panel in response to an indication from the dispatcher by animating a smooth transition from a prior presented panel to the identified panel.