Tracking and responding to distracting events

• US 8,955,002 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2013
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Seiden, Joshua, Johnson, Derek
• Primary Examiner(s): Kumar, Pankaj
• Assistant Examiner(s): ANDRAMUNO, FRANKLIN S
• Application Number:
  US13/742,934
• Publication Number:
  US 20140201767A1
• Time in Patent Office: 755 Days
• Field of Search: 725/12, 725/88, 725/89, 725/102
• US Class Current: 725/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44218 Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• 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

Abstract

A distraction monitoring system may monitor a user'"'"'s consumption of content, such as video content, and identify times at which the user is distracted from the content. The identified times may then be presented with a timeline for the video program, and the user may be permitted to view the distractions that occurred during the viewing of the video program. The user may select a distraction, and the video content may be played back from a corresponding playback point.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting content to a user for consumption;

identifying, by a computing device, a plurality of distracting events occurring during the consumption by the user of the content;

determining whether each distracting event of the plurality of distracting events distracts the user from the content;

in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of distracting events distracts the user from the content, capturing information identifying a type of the distracting event and a time of the at least one of the plurality of distracting events; and

generating for display a timeline for the content, wherein the timeline corresponds to the user'"'"'s consumption of the content, and wherein the timeline comprises at least one indication identifying at least one point in time when the at least one of the plurality of distracting events occurred during the user'"'"'s consumption of the content, wherein the timeline comprises at least one image captured in association with the at least one of the plurality of distracting events.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

storing information identifying a plurality of distraction preferences corresponding to the user; and

using the plurality of distraction preferences corresponding to the user to determine whether the presenting of the content to the user should be paused in response to a distracting event.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising:

in response to determining that a first distracting event is a first type of distracting event, automatically pausing the presenting of the content to the user; and

in response to determining that a second distracting event is a second type of distracting event, continuing the presenting of the content to the user,

wherein the first type of distracting event and the second type of distracting event have respective distraction preferences set in the plurality of distraction preferences corresponding to the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the content is presented to the user for consumption on a first device, and the method comprises determining whether to automatically pause presentation of the content on the first device in response to determining that the at least one of the plurality of distracting events comprises diversion of attention of the user to a second device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining that the at least one of the plurality of distracting events comprises diversion of the attention of the user to the second device comprises receiving, by the computing device, a distraction message from the second device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the image captured in association with the at least one of the plurality of distracting events comprises a screenshot of a second-screen device associated with the at least one of the plurality of distracting events.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving a user selection of the at least one indication; and

generating a display comprising additional information related to the at least one of the plurality of distracting events.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining that at least two remaining users remain consuming content when a first user has become distracted from the content; and

polling each of the at least two remaining users to determine whether the content should be automatically paused in response to the first user becoming distracted from the content.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising:

generating a display of a list of available timelines for a user, wherein each listed timeline corresponds to an earlier consumption of a particular content;

receiving a selection of one of the listed timelines; and

generating a display of the selected timeline,

wherein the selected timeline comprises a listing of distracting events that occurred during a corresponding prior consumption of the content.

17. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of the distraction preferences corresponding to the user comprise at least one distraction preference based on a type of the content.

18. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of distraction preferences corresponding to the user comprise at least one distraction preference based on a time of day of a distracting event.

19. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining, based on a set of auto-pause rules associated with the content, whether the presenting of the content to the user should be paused in response to a distracting event.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the set of auto-pause rules are provided by at least one of a content owner and a service provider.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the set of auto-pause rules provided by the at least one of an owner of the content and a service provider of the content comprise a rule related to the type of a distracting event.

22. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving a user selection of one of the indications identifying a distracting event; and

playing back the content from a point in time when the identified distracting event occurred.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one indication identifying at least one point in time when the at least one of the plurality of distracting events occurred during the user'"'"'s consumption of the content comprise at least one indication of a source of the at least one of the plurality of distracting events.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the image captured in association with the at least one of the plurality of distracting events comprises an image from a camera associated with the at least one of the plurality of distracting events.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the image captured in association with the at least one of the plurality of distracting events comprises an image from a home-security system associated with the at least one of the plurality of distracting events.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the image captured in associated with the at least one of the plurality of distracting events comprises an image from the content at the point in time when the at least one of the plurality of distracting events occurred during the user'"'"'s consumption of the content.

27. The method of claim 7, wherein the additional information related to the at least one of the plurality of distracting events comprises an identification of a distraction.

10. A method comprising:

monitoring distractions that take attention of a user away from a content during presentation of the content to the user;

storing, by a computing device, information identifying a type of each of the distractions and correlating the distractions to points in time in the content;

generating for display a distraction timeline to the user, wherein the distraction timeline represents a duration of the content, and identifies points during the content at which the distractions occurred, and the type of each of the distractions;

receiving a distraction message from a second-screen computing device, the distraction message indicating that the user is distracted from the content by usage of the second screen computing device, wherein the distraction message comprises information regarding an application on the second-screen computing device being used by the user;

determining, based on user preferences of the user, whether to consider the application on the second-screen computing device being used by the user to be a distraction; and

storing information indicating that the usage of the second-screen computing device by the user is a distraction in response to determining, based on the user preferences of the user, to consider the application on the second-screen computing device being used by the user to be a distraction.

11. The method of claim 10, comprising:

detecting a door opening, and storing information indicating that the door opening is a distraction.

12. The method of claim 10, comprising:

selecting targeted advertising based on the distractions that take the attention of the user away from the content during the presentation of the content to the user.

13. The method of claim 10, comprising:

presenting at least a portion of the content a second time to the user; and

removing a distraction associated with a point during the content from the distraction timeline in response to determining that the user is not distracted at the point during the content during the presenting the at least a portion of the content the second time to the user.

14. The method of claim 10, comprising:

determining whether the type of the distraction is associated with an auto-pause condition set by the user;

in response to determining that the type of the distraction is associated with the auto-pause condition set by the user, automatically pausing the presentation of the content; and

in response to determining that the type of the distraction is not associated with the auto-pause condition set by the user, continuing the presentation of the content.

28. The method of claim 10, comprising:

setting a system recording schedule based on distractions that take attention of the user away from the content during presentation of the content to the user.

29. The method of claim 10, wherein the generating for display the distraction timeline automatically occurs in response to detecting an end of the content.

15. A method, comprising:

receiving, during presentation of content to a user by a presentation device, a message from a second-screen device comprising an indication of usage of the second-screen device by the user;

determining, based on user preferences of the user, that the usage of the second screen device is to be considered a distraction from the content;

storing, in response to the determining, information indicating the usage of the second screen device that was considered a distraction from the content; and

using the message to generate for display a distraction timeline representing a duration of the content, and identifying a plurality of times, during the duration, when the user was distracted by the second-screen device during the presentation of the content to the user.

16. The method of claim 15, comprising:

receiving a selection of one time of the plurality of times when the user was distracted by the second-screen device, wherein the selected one time is associated with the user using the second-screen device to view a different content; and

presenting, by the presentation device, the different video, in response to receiving the selection of the one time.