Determining user attention level during video presentation by monitoring user inputs at user premises

• US 8,763,020 B2
• Filed: 10/14/2008
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Toebes, John, Jacobs, Philip Clifford, Jouret, Guido, Kuhlke, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): CORBO, NICHOLAS T
• Application Number:
  US12/251,233
• Publication Number:
  US 20100095317A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,079 Days
• Field of Search: 725/9, 725/13, 725/14, 725/16
• US Class Current: 725/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4112 having fewer capabilities than the client, e.g. thin client having less processing power or no tuning capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/466 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies services using the results of monitoring in broadcast systems H04H60/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method comprises identifying, by an apparatus at a user premises, a presentation of an addressable video stream to a user; detecting by the apparatus whether the user has supplied a user input, relative to the presentation, to at least one user input device; the apparatus selectively associating each user input detected relative to the presentation with a corresponding identified position of the addressable video stream; and generating, by the apparatus, a data structure enabling identification of an attention level by the user toward at least a portion of the addressable video stream, the data structure specifying an identifier for the addressable video stream and specifying whether the user supplied any user input relative to the presentation, including selectively adding to the data structure at least one user input and the corresponding identified position.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by an apparatus at a user premises, a presentation of an addressable video stream to a user by a first user device at the user premises;

detecting by the apparatus, relative to the presentation, whether the user has supplied a user input to at least one user input device at the user premises, the user input device distinct from the first user device and not related to the presentation of the addressable video stream by the first user device, the user input distinct from any display control command used for controlling the presentation, the user input representing content that is generated by the user using a service, distinct from the presentation, for delivery of the content to a destination external to the user premises;

the apparatus selectively associating the user input detected relative to the presentation with a corresponding identified position of the addressable video stream; and

generating, by the apparatus, a data structure enabling identification of an attention level by the user toward the identified position of the addressable video stream, the data structure specifying an identifier for the addressable video stream, at least one user input, and the corresponding identified position.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying by the apparatus the attention level for at least one identified position based on determining a relevance of the at least one user input toward content presented in the addressable video stream.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying the attention level includes:

retrieving metadata identifying prescribed keywords associated with the addressable video stream; and

determining the relevance for the at least one user input based on determining whether the at least one user input specifies at least one of the prescribed keywords, or whether the at least one user input is supplied to a destination that returns a response that specifies at least one of the prescribed keywords.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the at least one user input is a web request, the destination is a website, and the corresponding response is a web page supplied by the website to the user input device;

the at least one user input is a text-based message, the destination is a messaging server and the corresponding response is a second text-based message responsive to the at least one user input;

or

the at least one user input is a first Voice over IP media stream generated by the user input device, the destination is a Voice over IP server, and the corresponding response is a second Voice over IP media stream received from the Voice over IP server.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying the attention level includes:

determining the at least one user input is a message generated by the user and destined for a second user reachable via a peer apparatus via a wide area network;

sending a query to the peer apparatus whether the second user is viewing the addressable video stream; and

receiving a reply from the peer apparatus identifying whether the second user is viewing the addressable video stream, the relevance for the at least one user input based on whether the user and the second user are concurrently viewing the addressable video stream.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the user input is an electronic game input for an identifiable electronic game, the relevance determined based on determining whether the identifiable electronic game is related or unrelated to the addressable video stream.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input device is a video display control device, the detecting includes interpreting the user input as a display control command including any one of a volume change, a display screen size change, or a navigation control input for navigating within the addressable video stream.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating includes outputting the data structure via an Internet Protocol (IP) based wide area network to a prescribed destination configured for identifying the attention level based on the identifier for the addressable video stream and the data structure specifying whether the user supplied any user input relative to the presentation.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating includes:

storing, in the data structure, attention level metrics for user inputs, including the at least one user input, detected relative to respective positions of the addressable video stream, and

storing in the data structure an aggregated attention level determined based on an accumulation of the attention level metrics relative to respective weighting factors associated with the respective positions.

21. The method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the attention level specifies a negative value indicating a reduced interest by the user toward the corresponding position of the addressable video stream.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a device interface circuit configured for detecting a presentation of an addressable video stream to a user by a first user device at a user premises, and detecting whether the user has supplied a user input to at least one user input device at the user premises, the user input device distinct from the first user device and not related to the presentation of the addressable video stream by the first user device, the apparatus located at the user premises, the user input distinct from any display control command used for controlling the presentation, the user input representing content that is generated by the user using a service, distinct from the presentation, for delivery of the content to a destination external to the user premises; and

a processor circuit configured for identifying the presentation of the addressable video stream and selectively associating the user input detected relative to the presentation with a corresponding identified position of the addressable video stream;

the processor circuit further configured for generating a data structure enabling identification of an attention level by the user toward the identified position of the addressable video stream, the data structure specifying an identifier for the addressable video stream, at least one user input, and the corresponding identified position.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor circuit is configured for identifying the attention level for at least one identified position based on determining a relevance of the at least one user input toward content presented in the addressable video stream.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor circuit is configured for:

retrieving metadata identifying prescribed keywords associated with the addressable video stream; and

determining the relevance for the at least one user input based on determining whether the at least one user input specifies at least one of the prescribed keywords, or whether the at least one user input is supplied to a destination that returns a response that specifies at least one of the prescribed keywords.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the at least one user input is a web request, the destination is a website, and the corresponding response is a web page supplied by the website to the user input device;

the at least one user input is a text-based message, the destination is a messaging server and the corresponding response is a second text-based message responsive to the at least one user input;

or

the at least one user input is a first Voice over IP media stream generated by the user input device, the destination is a Voice over IP server, and the corresponding response is a second Voice over IP media stream received from the Voice over IP server.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor circuit is configured for:

determining the at least one user input is a message generated by the user and destined for a second user reachable via a peer apparatus via a wide area network;

sending a query to the peer apparatus whether the second user is viewing the addressable video stream; and

receiving a reply from the peer apparatus identifying whether the second user is viewing the addressable video stream, the relevance for the at least one user input by the processor circuit based on whether the user and the second user are concurrently viewing the addressable video stream.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the user input is an electronic game input for an identifiable electronic game, the relevance determined based on the processor circuit determining whether the identifiable electronic game is related or unrelated to the addressable video stream.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the user input device is a video display control device, the processor circuit configured for interpreting the user input as a display control command including any one of a volume change, a display screen size change, or a navigation control input for navigating within the addressable video stream.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor circuit is configured for outputting the data structure via an Internet Protocol (IP) based wide area network to a prescribed destination configured for identifying the attention level based on the identifier for the addressable video stream and the data structure specifying whether the user supplied any user input relative to the presentation.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor circuit is configured for generating the data structure based on:

storing, in the data structure, attention level metrics for user inputs, including the at least one user input, detected relative to respective positions of the addressable video stream; and

storing in the data structure an aggregated attention level determined based on an accumulation of the attention level metrics relative to respective weighting factors associated with the respective positions.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein at least one of the attention level specifies a negative value indicating a reduced interest by the user toward the corresponding position of the addressable video stream.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a device interface circuit configured for detecting a presentation of an addressable video stream to a user by a first user device at a user premises, and detecting whether the user has supplied a user input to at least one user input device at the user premises, the user input device distinct from the first user device and not related to the presentation of the addressable video stream by the first user device, the apparatus located at the user premises, the user input distinct from any display control command used for controlling the presentation, the user input representing content that is generated by the user using a service, distinct from the presentation, for delivery of the content to a destination external to the user premises; and

means for identifying the presentation of the addressable video stream and selectively associating the user input detected relative to the presentation with a corresponding identified position of the addressable video stream;

the means for identifying further configured for generating a data structure enabling identification of an attention level by the user toward the identified position of the addressable video stream, the data structure specifying an identifier for the addressable video stream, at least one user input, and the corresponding identified position.

20. Logic encoded in one or more non-transitory tangible media for execution and when executed operable for:

identifying, by an apparatus executing the logic at the user premises, a presentation of an addressable video stream to a user by a first user device at the user premises;

detecting by the apparatus, relative to the presentation, whether the user has supplied a user input to at least one user input device at the user premises, the user input device distinct from the first user device and not related to the presentation of the addressable video stream by the first user device, the user input distinct from any display control command used for controlling the presentation, the user input representing content that is generated by the user using a service, distinct from the presentation, for delivery of the content to a destination external to the user premises;

the apparatus selectively associating the user input detected relative to the presentation with a corresponding identified position of the addressable video stream; and

generating, by the apparatus, a data structure enabling identification of an attention level by the user toward the identified position of the addressable video stream, the data structure specifying an identifier for the addressable video stream, at least one user input, and the corresponding identified position.