Methods and systems for interacting with viewers of video content
First Claim
1. A method of automatically selecting an interactive activity to be presented to viewers of a video program, said interactive activity not being transmitted in time synchronization with said video program, said video program not embedded with interactive activity synchronization information to be used in said method, said method comprising:
- receiving video data from a video source, said video data being free from embedded interactive activity synchronization information to be used in said method;
automatically identifying specific video object content in the received video data by using a processor to determine a plurality of features in said video data;
at least some of said plurality of features being selected for their ability to persist when an image from said video data is rotated, presented with altered resolution, or presented with different lighting;
abstracting said video data into a three dimensional structure of features comprising two spatial dimensions and one time dimension;
determining the time order in which various feature groups appear;
assigning at least some of said feature groups to objects;
generating a video signal representing the video data;
communicating the video signal to a display device, wherein the display device displays a video image representative of the video signal;
monitoring user interaction with the displayed video image; and
selecting an interactive activity based on the user'"'"'s interaction with the displayed video image and based on the automatically identified object content in the video data.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A viewer interaction system and method receives video data from a video source and identifies object content in the received video data. A video signal is generated that represents the video data. That video signal is communicated to a display device which displays a video image representative of the video signal. The system and method monitor user interaction with the displayed video image and selects an interactive activity based on the user'"'"'s interaction with the displayed video image and the identified object content in the received video data.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of automatically selecting an interactive activity to be presented to viewers of a video program, said interactive activity not being transmitted in time synchronization with said video program, said video program not embedded with interactive activity synchronization information to be used in said method, said method comprising:
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receiving video data from a video source, said video data being free from embedded interactive activity synchronization information to be used in said method; automatically identifying specific video object content in the received video data by using a processor to determine a plurality of features in said video data; at least some of said plurality of features being selected for their ability to persist when an image from said video data is rotated, presented with altered resolution, or presented with different lighting; abstracting said video data into a three dimensional structure of features comprising two spatial dimensions and one time dimension; determining the time order in which various feature groups appear; assigning at least some of said feature groups to objects; generating a video signal representing the video data; communicating the video signal to a display device, wherein the display device displays a video image representative of the video signal; monitoring user interaction with the displayed video image; and selecting an interactive activity based on the user'"'"'s interaction with the displayed video image and based on the automatically identified object content in the video data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of automatically selecting an interactive activity to be presented to viewers of a video program, said interactive activity not being transmitted in time synchronization with said video program, said video program not embedded with interactive activity synchronization information to be used in said method, said method comprising:
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receiving a video program from a video source, said video data being free from embedded interactive activity synchronization information to be used in said method; displaying said video program to a plurality of current viewers; automatically identifying specific video objects in said video program by using a processor to determine a plurality of features in said video program; at least some of said plurality of features being selected for their ability to persist when an image from said video program is rotated, presented with altered resolution, or presented with different lighting; abstracting said video program into a three dimensional structure of features comprising two spatial dimensions and one time dimension; determining the time order in which various feature groups appear; assigning at least some of said feature groups to objects; communicating a question to current viewers of a video program pertaining to said objects; receiving responses to the question from a plurality of the current viewers during presentation of the video program; analyzing the received responses substantially in real time; displaying a summary of the received responses to current viewers; and determining a remainder of the video program content based on the received responses. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for automatically selecting an interactive activity to be presented to viewers of a video program, said interactive activity not being transmitted in time synchronization with said video program, said video program not embedded with interactive activity synchronization information to be used by said apparatus for the automatic selection, said apparatus comprising:
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a communication module configured to receive video data from a video source and configured to receive information regarding object content in the received video data; said video data being free from embedded interactive activity synchronization information to be used by said apparatus to receive information regarding said object content for said automatic selection; a processor or video processor configured for identifying specific video objects in said video data by determining a plurality of features in said video program; at least some of said plurality of features being selected for their ability to persist when a video image from said video data is rotated, presented with altered resolution, or presented with different lighting; abstracting said video data into a three dimensional structure of features comprising two spatial dimensions and one time dimension; determining the time order in which various feature groups appear; and assigning at least some of said feature groups to objects; the communication module further configured to receive interactive activity data from the video source; a user interface module configured to monitor a user'"'"'s interaction with a displayed video image associated with the received video data; and a processor coupled to the communication module and the user interface module, the processor configured to select an interactive activity based on the user'"'"'s interaction with the displayed video image, the automatically identified objects in said video image, and based on the received information regarding object content in the received video data. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification