Time-tagged metainformation and content display method and system

• US 8,856,641 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2008
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pueyo, Lluis Garcia
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHREWSBURY, NATHAN K
• Application Number:
  US12/236,647
• Publication Number:
  US 20100077290A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,204 Days
• Field of Search: 715/230, 707/E17.014, 709/203, 348/460
• US Class Current: 715/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7867 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, title and artist information, manually generated time, location and usage information, user ratings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2743 Video hosting of uploaded data from client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43074 of additional data with content streams on the same device, e.g. of EPG data or interactive icon with a TV program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for displaying content-related metainformation, and display of content-related tag metainformation in correspondence, and synchronized, e.g., time-based, with the content, so as to display content together with related time-tag information.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for generating a user interface comprising:

a content player window being provided via a display of a computing device, the content player window for use with a multimedia content player to play video content; and

a metainformation display portion of the content player window that displays tags received from multiple users and associated with the video content played by the player,

the tags being displayed in the metainformation display portion as multiple lists that scroll in synchronization with play of the video content, each list of the multiple lists displays the tags received from a respective user and the tags are superimposed over at least a portion the video content being played, and

each of the tags has a time and a tag that has a time that is closest to a current playback time relative to the times of other ones of the tags is differentiated from other tags being displayed.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising play controls to control playback of the video content, scrolling of the list of tags being controlled by the play controls that control the video content'"'"'s play.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, such that each of the multiple lists scrolls in correspondence with the other lists, and in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, such that the metainformation display portion comprises multiple display columns, one for each of the multiple lists, each of the multiple columns having a background color, and each background color is different from the background colors used for other ones of the multiple columns.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 4, such that each column has a column heading that includes an identity of the user associated with the tags displayed in the column.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 4, such that each row in the user'"'"'s column corresponds to an underlying portion of the video content, if a tag corresponding to the user exists for the portion of the video content, the existing tag is displayed in the row in the user'"'"'s column while the portion of the video content is being played.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 4, such that each row in the user'"'"'s column corresponds to a portion of the video content, if no tag corresponding to the user exists for the portion of content, the row in the user'"'"'s column is empty while the portion of content is being played.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 1, such that each tag that has a time that is closest to a current playback time relative to the times of other ones of the tags is differentiated by at least one of font, pitch, color, boldface and italics.

9. A device comprising a memory and a processor, the memory storing and the processor executing program code to generate:

a multimedia content player that controls play of video content in a player window; and

a metainformation display control that displays multiple lists of tags received from multiple users and associated with the video content, the multiple lists of tags being scrolled on the display in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play, each list of the multiple lists displays the tags received from a respective user, the tags being displayed in a metainformation display portion that is superimposed over at least a portion of the video content being played in the player window,

said metainformation display control controls the metainformation display portion, such that each of the tags corresponds to a time and a displayed tag that has a time that is closest to a current playback time relative to the times of other ones of the tags is differentiated from other tags being displayed.

10. The device of claim 9, said multimedia player controls the video content'"'"'s play in response to received playback control input.

11. The device of claim 9, each list scrolls in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play.

12. The device of claim 11, said metainformation display control controls the metainformation display portion such that each of the multiple lists scrolls in correspondence with the other lists, and in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play.

13. The device of claim 11, such that the metainformation display portion comprises multiple display columns, one for each of the multiple lists, said metainformation display control controls the metainformation display portion such that each of the multiple columns has a background color that is different from the background color used for other ones of the multiple columns.

14. The device of claim 13, said metainformation display control controls the metainformation display portion, such that each column has a column heading that identifies the user associated with the tags displayed in the column.

15. The device of claim 13, such that each row in the user'"'"'s column corresponds to an underlying portion of the video content, said metainformation display control controls the metainformation display portion such that if a tag corresponding to the user exists for the portion of the video content, the existing tag is displayed in the row in the user'"'"'s column while the portion of the video content is being played.

16. The device of claim 13, such that each row in the user'"'"'s column corresponds to an underlying portion of the video content, said metainformation display control controls the metainformation display portion such that if no tag corresponding to the user exists for the portion of the video content, the row in the user'"'"'s column is empty while the portion of the video content is being played.

17. The device of claim 13, such that a displayed tag that has a time that is closest to a current playback time relative to the times of other ones of the tags is differentiated by at least one of font, pitch, color, boldface and italics.

18. A method comprising:

transmitting, via a computing device, a request for video content;

transmitting, via the computing device, a request for metainformation corresponding to the requested video content; and

receiving, via the computing device, the requested video content and metainformation, the metainformation comprising tags received from multiple users and corresponding to the requested video content, each tag received being created during a prior playback of the requested video content; and

playing the video content, via a player window and the computing device,

scrolling, in a metainformation display portion of the player window, at least a portion of the received tags in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play, the metainformation display portion being superimposed over at least a portion of the video content being played in the player window,

displaying the tags in the metainformation display portion as multiple lists, each list of the multiple lists displays the tags received from a respective user, and

displaying each tag that has a time that corresponds to a current playback time so that the tag is differentiated from other tags being played.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

transmitting at least one tag input while the received video content is being played to a metainformation server, so that the transmitted at least one tag can be stored in a metainformation repository.

20. The method of claim 18, such that metainformation received with each tag comprises time information, said method further comprising:

sorting the set of tags using the time information.

21. The method of claim 18, such that metainformation received with each tag comprises time and user identification information, said method further comprising:

sorting the received tags using the user identification information to generate at least one set of tags, each set of tags corresponds to one user, and sorting the tags in each set using the time information.

22. The method of claim 18, such that the tags corresponding to the video content are associated with more than one user, said displaying further comprising:

scrolling each list in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play.

23. The method of claim 22, said displaying further comprising:

displaying multiple display columns, one for each of the multiple lists, each of the multiple columns having a background color, and each background color is different from the background color used for other ones of the multiple columns.

24. The method of claim 23, said displaying further comprising:

displaying a column heading for each column, the column heading identifying the user associated with the tags displayed in the column.

25. The method of claim 23, such that each column corresponds to a user and each row in a column corresponds to a portion of the video content, said displaying further comprising:

if a tag corresponding to the user exists for the portion of the video content, displaying the existing tag in the row in the user'"'"'s column while the portion of the video content is being played.

26. The method of claim 22, such that each tag that has a time corresponding to a current playback time is differentiated by at least one of font, pitch, color, boldface and italics.

27. A computer-readable non-transitory medium tangibly storing thereon computer readable instructions that when executed cause at least one processor to:

transmit a request for video content;

transmit a request for metainformation corresponding to the requested video content; and

receive the requested video content and metainformation, the metainformation comprising tags received from multiple users and corresponding to the requested video content, each tag received being created during a prior playback of the requested content; and

play the video content in a player window and

display in a metainformation display portion at least a portion of the received tags as multiple lists, each list of the multiple lists displays the tags received from a respective user, the portion of the received tags is scrolled in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play, the metainformation display portion is superimposed over at least a portion of the video content being played in the player window, and

display a tag that has a time that is closest to a current playback time relative to the times of other ones of the tags so that the tag is differentiated from other tags being played.

28. The medium of claim 27, the computer readable instructions that when executed further cause the at least one processor to:

transmit at least one tag input while the received video content is being played to a metainformation server, so that the transmitted at least one tag can be stored in a metainformation repository.

29. The medium of claim 27, such that metainformation received with each tag comprises time information, the computer readable instructions that when executed further cause the at least one processor to:

sort the set of tags using the time information.

30. The medium of claim 27, such that metainformation received with each tag comprises time and user identification information, the computer readable instructions that when executed further cause the at least one processor to:

sort the received tags using the user identification information to generate at least one set of tags that corresponds to one user, and sorting the tags in each set using the time information.

31. The medium of claim 27, such that the tags corresponding to the video content are associated with more than one user, the computer readable instructions that when executed cause the at least one processor to display further comprising computer readable instructions that when executed cause the at least one processor to:

scrolling each list in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play.

32. The medium of claim 31, the computer readable instructions that when executed cause the at least one processor to display further comprising computer readable instructions that when executed cause the at least one processor to:

display multiple display columns, one for each of the multiple lists, each of the multiple columns having a background color, and each background color is different from the background color used for other ones of the multiple columns.

33. The medium of claim 32, the computer readable instructions that when executed cause the at least one processor to display further comprising computer readable instructions that when executed cause the at least one processor to:

display column heading for each column, the column heading identifying the user associated with the tags displayed in the column.

34. The medium of claim 32, such that each column corresponds to a user and each row in a column corresponds to a portion of the video content, the computer readable instructions that when executed cause the at least one processor to display further comprising computer readable instructions that when executed cause the at least one processor to:

display the existing tag in the row in the user'"'"'s column while the portion of the video content is being played if a tag corresponding to the user exists for the portion of the video content.

35. The medium of claim 27, such that each tag that has a time that is closest to a current playback time relative to the times of other ones of the tags is differentiated by at least one of font, pitch, color, boldface and italics.

36. A method comprising:

receiving, via at least one server computer, a request for video content;

receiving, via the at least one server computer, a request for metainformation corresponding to the requested content; and

transmitting, via the at least one server computer, the requested content and metainformation, the metainformation comprising multiple tags received from multiple users and corresponding to the requested video content, each tag being in connection with a prior playback of the requested video content, the requested video content for playing in a user interface made available via the at least one server computer, the user interface comprising a player window and a metainformation display portion superimposed over at least a portion of the requested video content being played in the player window, the tags are displayed as multiple lists, each list of the multiple lists displays those tags of the multiple tags received from one of the multiple users, the tags for scrolling in the metainformation display portion in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play, and

each of the tags has a time and a tag that has a time that is closest to a current playback time relative to the times of other ones of the tags is differentiated from other tags being displayed.

37. The method of claim 36, the user interface further comprising play controls to control playback of the video content, the scrolling of the list being controlled by the play controls that control the video content'"'"'s play.

38. The method of claim 36, each list scrolls in correspondence with the other lists and in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play.

39. The method of claim 38, such that the metainformation display portion comprises multiple display columns, one for each of the multiple lists, each row corresponds to a portion of the video content, if a tag of the multiple tags corresponds to the portion of the video content, the tag is displayed in the row in the user'"'"'s column while the portion of the video content is being played, and if no tag corresponding to the user exists for the portion of the video content, the row in the user'"'"'s column is empty while the portion of the video content is being played.

40. A system comprising:

at least one server computer, the at least one server computer comprising at least one processor for executing and memory for storing instructions that when executed cause the at least one server computer to;

receive a request for metainformation corresponding to requested video content; and

transmit the requested content and metainformation,

the metainformation comprising multiple tags received from multiple users and displayed in multiple lists corresponding to the requested video content, each list comprising tags received from a respective one of the multiple users wherein each tag being in connection with a prior playback of the requested video content, the requested video content for playing in a user interface made available via the at least one server computer, the user interface comprising a player window and a metainformation display portion superimposed over at least a portion of the requested video content being played in the player window, the multiple tags for scrolling in the metainformation display portion from in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play, wherein

the metainformation further comprising a time for each of the tags has such that a tag that has a time that is closest to a current playback time relative to the times of other ones of the tags is differentiated from other tags being displayed.

41. The system of claim 40, the user interface further comprising play controls to control playback of the video content, the scrolling of the list being controlled by the play controls that control the video content'"'"'s play.

42. The system of claim 40, each list scrolls in correspondence with the other lists and in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play.

43. The system of claim 42, such that the metainformation display portion comprises multiple display columns, one for each of the multiple lists, each row corresponds to a portion of the video content, if a tag of the multiple tags corresponds to the portion of video content, the tag is displayed in the row in the user'"'"'s column while the portion of video content is being played, and if no tag corresponding to the user exists for the portion of video content, the row in the user'"'"'s column is empty while the portion of video content is being played.

44. A computer readable non-transitory storage medium for tangibly storing thereon computer readable instructions that when executed cause at least one processor to:

receive a request for video content;

receive a request for metainformation corresponding to the requested video content; and

transmit the requested video content and metainformation, the metainformation comprising tags received from multiple users and corresponding to the requested content, each tag being in connection with a prior playback of the requested video content, the requested content for playing in a user interface made available via the at least one server computer, the user interface comprising a player window and a metainformation display portion superimposed over at least a portion of the video content being played in the player window, multiple lists of the tags for scrolling in the metainformation display portion in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play, each list comprising tags received from a respective one of the multiple users,

each of the tags has a time and a tag that has a time that is closest to a current playback time relative to the times of other ones of the tags is differentiated from other tags being displayed.

45. The medium of claim 44, the user interface further comprising play controls to control playback of the video content, the scrolling of the list being controlled by the play controls that control the video content'"'"'s play.

46. The medium of claim 44, each list scrolls in correspondence with the other lists and in synchronization with the video content'"'"'s play.

47. The medium of claim 46, such that the metainformation display portion comprises multiple display columns, one for each of the multiple lists, each row corresponds to a portion of the video content, if a tag of the multiple tags corresponds to the portion of the video content, the tag is displayed in the row in the user'"'"'s column while the portion of the video content is being played, and if no tag corresponding to the user exists for the portion of the video content, the row in the user'"'"'s column is empty while the portion of the video content is being played.