Determining a future portion of a currently presented media program

• US 8,959,541 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2012
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Conrad, Michael J., Hulten, Geoffrey J, Krum, Kyle J., Mendhro, Umaimah A., Remington, Darren B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Parry, Chris
• Application Number:
  US13/482,867
• Publication Number:
  US 20130298146A1
• Time in Patent Office: 994 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42201 biosensors, e.g. heat sensor for presence detection, EEG sensors or any limb activity sensors worn by the user input arrangements for interaction with the human body based on nervous system activity detection G06F3/015
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44213 Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• 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 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• 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 21/6582 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 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

This document describes techniques and apparatuses for determining a future portion of a currently presented media program. The techniques and apparatuses can receive current media reactions of one or many people to a currently presented media program and determine later portions to present in the media program based on the media reactions. In some embodiments, for example, a program can be presented live, reactions can be received during the live presentation, and the program altered on-the-fly and in real time based on those reactions. Further, the alterations can be general or tailored to a group or a particular person.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a computing device comprising:

receiving, by the computing device and during a presentation of a first portion of a media program, a media reaction to the first portion of the media program, the media reation determined based on sensor data passively sensed during the first portion of the media program;

determining, by the computing device and based on the media reaction to the first portion of the media program being congruent with a context for the first portion of the media program an engaged state of a user during the first portion of the media program;

determining, by the computing device, based on a reaction history of the user, and responsive to determining the user to be in the engaged state during the first portion of the media program, a future advertisement, the future advertisement;

occurring during a later portion of the media program;

during a same presentation of the media program; and

selected from a set of advertisements based on a similarity to the first portion of the media program; and

causing, by the computing device, the future advertisement to be presented during the later portion of the media program and during the same presentation of the media program.

2. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the media program includes a previously-scheduled advertisement and causing the future advertisement is effective to replace the previously-scheduled advertisement with the future advertisement.

3. A method as described in claim 1, wherein receiving the media reaction is from a media presentation device on which the media program is presented and causing the future advertisement to be presented is performed by the computing device through a communications network.

4. A method as described in claim 1, wherein determining the future advertisement is further based on:

a media reaction of another user;

demographic information;

or information about the media program.

5. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising receiving another media reaction, the other media reaction determined based on other sensor data sensed during the first portion of the media program and associated with a different user than the user associated with the first-mentioned media reaction, the different user physically local to the user, and wherein determining the future advertisement is further based on the other media reaction.

6. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the media reaction is received from an entity local to a media presentation device on which the media program is presented and the set of advertisements is previously stored local to the media presentation device and associated with a time-range in the media program at which to present the future advertisement.

7. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the first portion of the media program is an advertisement and determining the future advertisement determines the future advertisement based on the future advertisement determined to be more likely to be successful than one or more other previously prepared advertisements of the set of advertisements.

8. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the context for the media reaction includes a time of day in which the first portion of the media program is presented or a type of media being presented during the portion.

9. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

determining, based on the engaged state of the user during the first portion of the media program, a future portion of the media program, the future portion of the media program occurring during a second portion of the media program and during the same presentation of the media program; and

causing the future portion of the media program to be presented during the second portion of the media program and during the same presentation of the media program.

10. An apparatus comprising:

one or more computer processors; and

one or more computer-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by the one or more computer processors, perform operations comprising;

receiving, during a presentation of a first portion of a media program, a media reaction to the first portion of the media program, the media reaction determined based on sensor data passively sensed during the first portion of the media program;

determining, based on the media reaction to the first portion of the media program being congruent with a context for the first portion of the media program an engaged state of a user during the first portion of the media program;

determining, based on a reaction history of the user and responsive to the user being in the engaged state during the first portion of the media program, a future advertisement, the future advertisement;

to occur during a later portion of the media program;

during a same presentation of the media program; and

selected from a set of advertisements based on a similarity to the first portion of the media program; and

causing the future advertisement to be presented during the later portion of the media program and during the same presentation of the media program.

12. An apparatus as described in claim 10, wherein receiving the media reaction is received from a media presentation device on which the media program is presented and causing the future advertisement of the media program to be presented is performed by the apparatus, the apparatus remote from the media presentation device.

13. An apparatus as described in claim 10, wherein determining the future advertisement is further based on:

a media reaction of another user;

demographic information;

or information about the media program.

14. An apparatus as described in claim 10, further comprising receiving another media reaction, the other media reaction determined based on other sensor data sensed during the first portion of the media program and associated with a different user than a user associated with the first-mentioned media reaction, the different user physically local to the user, and wherein determining the future advertisement is further based on the other media reaction.

15. An apparatus as described in claim 10, further comprising presenting, by the apparatus, the media program and receiving, from the user and by the apparatus, the media reaction, and wherein determining the future advertisement determines the future advertisement from the set of advertisements previously stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media, the set of advertisements associated with a time-range in the media program at which to present the future advertisement.

16. An apparatus as described in claim 10, wherein the first portion of media program is an advertisement and determining the future advertisement determines the future advertisement based on the future advertisement determined to be more likely to be successful than one or more other previously prepared advertisements of the set of advertisements.

17. An apparatus as described in claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining, based on the engaged state of the user during the first portion of the media program, a second portion of the media program, the future portion of the media program occurring during a second portion of the media program and during the same presentation of the media program; and

causing the future portion of the media program to be presented during the second portion of the media program and during the same presentation of the media program.

11. An apparatus as described in claimed 10,wherin the media program includes a previously-scheduled advertisement and causing the future advertisement is effective to replace the previously-scheduled advertisement with future advertisement.

18. A method implemented by a computing device comprising:

receiving, by the computing device and during a presentation of a first portion of a media program, a media reaction to the first portion of the media program, the media reaction determined based on sensor data passively sensed during the first portion of the media program;

determining, by the computing device and based on the media reaction to the first portion of the media program being incongruent with a context for the first portion of the media program, a disengaged state of a user during the first portion of the media program;

determining, by the computing device, based on a reaction history of the user, and responsive to determining the user to be in the disengaged state during the first portion of the media program, a future advertisement, the future advertisement;

occurring during a later portion of the media program;

during a same presentation of the media program; and

selected from a set of advertisements based on a dissimilarity to the first portion of the media program; and

causing, by the computing device, the future advertisement to be presented during the later portion of the media program and during the same presentation of the media program.

19. A method as described in claim 18, wherein the context for the media reaction includes a time of day in which the first portion of the media program is presented or a type of media being presented during the portion.

20. A method as described in claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

determining, based on the disengaged state of the user during the first portion of the media program, a future portion of the media program, the future portion of the media program occurring during a second portion of the media program and during the same presentation of the media program; and

causing the future portion of the media program to be presented during the second portion of the media program and during the same presentation of the media program.