System and method to create a media content summary based on viewer annotations

• US 8,769,589 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2009
• Issued: 07/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Amento, Brian, Nathan, Mukesh, Stead, Larry
• Primary Examiner(s): Pendleton, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lewis, Jonathan V
• Application Number:
  US12/414,786
• Publication Number:
  US 20100251295A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,918 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/86
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/322 used signal is digitally coded
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/442 Monitoring of processes or resources, e.g. detecting the failure of a recording device, monitoring the downstream bandwidth, the number of times a movie has been viewed, the storage space available from the internal hard disk arrangements for monitoring broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/29; arrangements for identifying or recognising characteristics with a direct linkage to broadcast information H04H60/35; monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; monitoring in wireless networks H04W24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• 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 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/475 End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8549 Creating video summaries, e.g. movie trailer retrieval in video databases by using presentations in form of a video summary G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

A computer implemented method includes receiving, at a media server, a request from a first viewer to create a media content server including select segments of media content for display at a display device. The computer implemented method includes accessing a media content analyzer generated based on viewer annotation data associated with media content. The viewer annotation data is received from viewers other than the first viewer. The computer implemented method includes identifying segments of the media content using the media content analyzer. The computer implemented method includes selecting at least one segment of the identified segments of the media content for inclusion in a media content summary. The computer implemented method includes sending the media content summary including the at least one selected segment of the media content to the display device.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving, at a media server, a request from a user to create a media content summary comprising select segments of media content, wherein the request includes a user-specified criterion;

accessing a media content analyzer generated based on viewer annotation data associated with media content, wherein the viewer annotation data is received from viewers;

identifying segments of the media content using the media content analyzer, the identified segments having viewer annotation data associated with the identified segments;

automatically changing a size of each of the identified segments until a total size of the resized segments satisfies the user-specified criterion;

including the resized segments in the media content summary; and

sending the media content summary to a device associated with the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content analyzer:

determines numerical weights to apply to the viewer annotation data; and

applies the numerical weights to the viewer annotation data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the numerical weights are determined using a linear approximation.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving input indicating a skip function after sending at least a portion of the media content summary to the device; and

sending a next resized segment of the media content summary to the device in response to receiving the input indicating the skip function.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising operational instructions, that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive from a user request from a user to create a media content summary, wherein the user request includes user-specified criterion;

select a first subset of viewer annotation data based on at least one characteristic common to viewers that generated the first subset of viewer annotation data and the user that sent the user request;

identify segments of the media content using a media content analyzer, the media content analyzer generated based on the first subset of viewer annotation data, wherein the identified segments have the first subset of viewer annotation data associated therewith;

automatically change a size of each of the identified segments until a total size of the resized segments satisfies the user-specified criterion;

include the resized segments in the media content summary; and

send the media content summary for presentation at a display device.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, further comprising operational instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to determine the size of each of the identified segments of the media content by identifying a starting position and an ending position of each of the identified segments.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein identifying the starting position and the ending position of each of the identified segments comprises detecting scene transitions of the media content.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the starting position and the ending position of each of the identified segments are identified based on a type of each viewer annotation of the viewer annotation data and a number of the viewer annotations associated with each of the identified segments.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the user-specified criterion includes a time period and wherein automatically changing the size of each of the identified segments comprises identifying the starting position and the ending position of each of the identified segments such that the resized segments are viewable within the time period.

10. A system, comprising:

an input interface to receive a request from a user to generate a media content analyzer to identify segments of media content and to generate a media content summary based on the identified segments of media content;

a generator module to;

select a first subset of viewer annotation data based on at least one characteristic common to viewers that generated the first subset of viewer annotation data and the user associated with the request; and

generate the media content analyzer based on the first subset of viewer annotation data;

a selection module to select at least one segment of the identified segments for inclusion in the media content summary based on a user-specified criterion; and

an output interface to send the media content summary including the at least one selected segment to a display device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the user request includes the user-specified criterion.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the viewer annotation data is collected from the viewers viewing the media content during different time periods.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the viewer annotation data is collected from the viewers viewing the media content concurrently.

14. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving, at a media server, a request from a user to generate a media content analyzer;

analyzing a first set of viewer annotations associated with media content to determine at least one viewer response metric associated with the media content, the first set of viewer annotations generated by viewers;

accessing media content analysis information associated with the media content;

generating the media content analyzer adapted to approximate the media content analysis information based on the at least one viewer response metric;

storing the media content analyzer in a memory;

identifying segments of the media content using the media content analyzer, the identified segments having viewer annotations associated therewith; and

automatically changing a size of each identified segment until a total size of the resized segments satisfies a user-specified criterion.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first set of viewer annotations comprise at least one of a facial expression, a hand gesture, a text input, and an emoticon selection.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising storing the viewer annotations as metadata associated with the media content.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising storing, at a database, the viewer annotations and a timestamp associated with each viewer annotation, the timestamp identifying when the associated viewer annotation was created with reference to the media content.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating genre-specific response values associated with each of the segments.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

generating a numerical value associated with each identified segment based on the first set of viewer annotations associated with each identified segment;

applying a weight to each numerical value to generate a second numerical value associated with each identified segment; and

selecting at least one of the identified segments based on the second numerical value.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating the media content analysis information based on a second set of viewer annotations associated with the media content.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the second set of viewer annotations comprises viewer annotations received from viewers with a particular expertise associated with a genre of the media content.