Method, system and server playing media using user equipment with motion sensor

• US 8,560,721 B2
• Filed: 08/18/2008
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SK Planet Co., Ltd. (SK Telecom Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: SK Planet Co., Ltd. (SK Telecom Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Lee, Joong Yun
• Primary Examiner(s): Avellino, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Afolabi, Mark O
• Application Number:
  US12/678,380
• Publication Number:
  US 20100207873A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,884 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-236, 370260-284, 725115-200
• US Class Current: 709/232
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1059 End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4728 for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for receiving playable media stored in a server by user equipment having a motion sensor and playing the media according to the motion of the user equipment. The method includes the steps of (a) designating a part of the media as a first receiving area by the server and transmitting it to the user equipment; (b) changing a playback area, in which the media are played, according to the motion of the user equipment and playing a part of the media; and (c) requesting by the user equipment that the server provide a second receiving area, which is a part of the media including the playback area, when the playback area is outside the first receiving area of the media, receiving the second receiving area, and playing the media. When media stored in the server are to be played initially, it is unnecessary to download the entire media, so that the user equipment can play the media more efficiently.

Claims

1. A method for receiving playable media stored in a server by user equipment having a motion sensor and playing the media by a motion of the user equipment, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) designating a part of the media as a first receiving area by the server and transmitting the first receiving area to the user equipment, wherein the part of the media is less than an entirety of the media;

(b) changing a playback area, the media being played in the playback area, according to the motion of the user equipment and playing media corresponding to the playback area by the user equipment; and

(c) requesting by the user equipment that the server provide a second receiving area when the playback area is outside the first receiving area of the media, designating another part of the media as the second receiving area by the server so that the another part of the media contains the playback area, and providing the user equipment with the second receiving area so that the user equipment receives the second receiving area and plays the media, wherein the another part of the media is less than an entirety of the media, the second receiving area overlaps with the first receiving area, and requesting by the user equipment occurs prior to transmitting the another part of the media.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in step (a), the server designates the first receiving area based on information regarding a memory of the user equipment received from the user equipment, and transmits the first receiving area to the user equipment.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in step (a), when there is a history of the media played by the user equipment, the server receives recent playback area information from the user equipment, the recent playback area information being information regarding an area recently played by the user equipment, designates the first receiving area based on the recent playback area information, and transmits the first receiving area to the user equipment.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the media have at least one playback reference axis for defining a playable area so that the media can be played in the playable area, the playback reference axis being a reference axis for moving and changing the playback area of the media, and in step (b), a motion of the user equipment corresponding to a direction of the playback reference axis is detected to move and change the playback area of the media according to the motion of the user equipment and to play the media in the playback area.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second receiving area is designated to contain the playback area based on information regarding a memory of the user equipment.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the media have three-dimensional stereoscopic information, and the playback reference axis comprises x-axis as a reference of movement direction along the x-axis, y-axis as a reference of movement of direction along the y-axis, and z-axis as a reference of movement of direction along the z-axis.

7. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the media have two-dimensional stereoscopic information, and the playback reference axis comprises x-axis as a reference of movement direction along the x-axis, y-axis as a reference of movement direction along the y-axis, and z-axis for indicating a scale of enlarged playback of the media.

8. A system for receiving playable media stored in a server by user equipment having a motion sensor and playing the media by a motion of the user equipment, wherein

the server receives a first receiving area transmission request of the user equipment, designates a partial area of the media as a first receiving area, and transmits the first receiving area to the user equipment, the partial area of the media is less than an entirety of the media,

the user equipment receives the first receiving area from the server, changes a playback area, the media being played in the playback area, according to a motion of the user equipment, and plays media corresponding to the playback area, and

when the playback area is outside the first receiving area of the media, the user equipment requests the server to provide another part of the media as a second receiving area, the second receiving area being the another part of media containing the playback area, receives the second receiving area, and plays the media, wherein the another part of the media is less than an entirety of the media, the second receiving area overlaps with the first receiving area, and the sever is configured to provide the another part of the media only after receiving the user equipment request.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the server designates the first receiving area based on information regarding a memory of the user equipment, and transmits the first receiving area to the user equipment.

10. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein, when there is a history of the media played by the user equipment, the server receives recent playback area information from the user equipment, the recent playback area information being information regarding an area recently played by the user equipment, designates the first receiving area based on the recent playback area information, and transmits the first receiving area to the user equipment.

11. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the second receiving area is designated to contain the playback area based on information regarding a memory of the user equipment.

12. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the media have at least one playback reference axis for defining a playable area so that the media can be played in the playable area, the playback reference axis being a reference axis for moving and changing the playback area of the media, and the user equipment detects a motion of the user equipment corresponding to a direction of the playback reference axis to move and change the playback area of the media according to the motion of the user equipment and to play the media.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the media have three-dimensional stereoscopic information, and the playback reference axis comprises x-axis as a reference of movement direction along the x-axis, y-axis as a reference of movement of direction along the y-axis, and z-axis as a reference of movement of direction along the z-axis.

14. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the media have two-dimensional stereoscopic information, and the playback reference axis comprises x-axis as a reference of movement direction along the x-axis, y-axis as a reference of movement direction along the y-axis, and z-axis for indicating a scale of enlarged playback of the media.

15. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the user equipment comprises:

a user input unit for receiving a user input;

a motion sensing unit for detecting a motion of the user equipment;

a playback unit for playing media corresponding to the playback area;

a control unit for moving and changing the playback area of the media based on the inputted user input and the detected motion of the user equipment, the control unit playing the media corresponding to the playback area by the playback unit;

a storage unit for storing the receiving area; and

a communication unit for transmitting a request for transmission of the receiving area to the server and receiving media in the receiving area from the server.

16. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the server comprises:

a media database storing the media;

a receiving area designation unit for designating a receiving area from media in the media database in response to the receiving area transmission request of the user equipment; and

a communication unit for receiving the first or second receiving area transmission request of the user equipment and transmitting the designated receiving area to the user equipment.

17. A server for storing playable media and transmitting the media to user equipment having a motion sensor, wherein

the server receives a first receiving area request of the user equipment, designates a partial area of the media as a first receiving area based on information regarding a memory of the user equipment, and transmits the first receiving area to the user equipment, wherein the partial area of the media is less than an entirety of the media, and

the server receives information regarding a second receiving area request of the user equipment, designates another part of the media as a second receiving area based on playback area information used by the user equipment to play the media and information regarding the memory of the user equipment, and transmits the second receiving area to the user equipment, wherein the another part of the media is less than an entirety of the media, the second receiving area overlaps with the first receiving area, and the server is configured to transmit the another part of the media only after receiving the request of the user equipment.

18. The server as claimed in claim 17, wherein the media have at least one playback reference axis for defining a playable area so that the media can be played in the playable area, the playback reference axis being a reference axis for moving and changing the playback area of the media.

19. The server as claimed in claim 18, wherein the media have three-dimensional stereoscopic information, and the playback reference axis comprises x-axis as a reference of movement direction along the x-axis, y-axis as a reference of movement of direction along the y-axis, and z-axis as a reference of movement of direction along the z-axis.

20. The server as claimed in claim 18, wherein the media have two-dimensional stereoscopic information, and the playback reference axis comprises x-axis as a reference of movement direction along the x-axis, y-axis as a reference of movement direction along the y-axis, and z-axis for indicating a scale of enlarged playback of the media.

21. The system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the server comprises:

a media database storing the media;

a receiving area designation unit for designating a receiving area from media in the media database based on information regarding the memory of the user equipment in response to the receiving area transmission request of the user equipment; and

a communication unit for receiving the receiving area transmission request and information regarding the memory of the user equipment from the user equipment and transmitting the receiving area to the user equipment.