Selecting and conveying supplemental content

• US 9,141,257 B1
• Filed: 06/18/2012
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Audible Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Audible Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Goldstein, Douglas S., Arora, Ajay, Hwang, Douglas C., Story, Guy A. Jr., Yang, Shirley C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Flanders, Andrew C
• Application Number:
  US13/526,330
• Publication Number:
  US 20150261747A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,191 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1847 specifically adapted to static storage, e.g. adapted to flash memory or SSD
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback

Abstract

Base items of content may be conveyed by a user computing device. These base items of content may be enhanced with enhancement content, such as sounds, songs, video clips, animations, images, multimedia content, and the like. Characteristics and enhancement objects may be identified in a portion of the base item of content, and enhancement content may be assigned to that portion automatically by a content enhancement service. In one embodiment, enhancement sounds or songs may be provided and conveyed to enhance an audiobook or electronic book.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

under control of one or more computing devices configured with specific computer-executable instructions,

determining, based at least in part on a textual representation of a portion of the base item of content, one or more characteristics of the portion of the base item of content;

identifying a la er of the base item of content that includes the portion, wherein the layer includes both the portion of the base item of content and at least one other portion of the base item of content;

determining a characteristic of the layer of the base item of content, wherein the portion and the at least one other portion have the characteristic of the layer in common;

selecting enhancement content based at least in part on the one or more characteristics of the portion of the base item of content and the characteristic of the layer; and

causing a computing device to present the selected enhancement content during presentation of the portion of the base item of content.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, where the one or more characteristics of the portion of the base item of content include at least one of a genre of the base item of content;

a mood of the portion of the base item of content;

a location of the portion of the base item of content;

a historical setting of the portion of the base item of content;

or a time of day of the portion of the base item of content.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more characteristics of the portion of the base item of content is a prioritized characteristic.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selected enhancement content comprises digital audio content.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 further comprising identifying an object in the portion of the base item of content, wherein the object is associated with a sound, and wherein the digital audio content comprises the sound.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the digital audio content comprises a song.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selected enhancement content comprises digital visual content.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the digital visual content comprises at least one of digital video content, digital text content, or a digital image.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

after the selected enhancement content has been presented by the computing device at least once, determining whether the portion of the base item of content continues to be presented by the computing device; and

if the portion of the base item of content continues to be presented by the computing device,

selecting additional enhancement content; and

causing the user computing device to present the additional enhancement content.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the song is selected based at least in part on a determination that the song is associated with the one or more characteristics of the portion of the base item of content.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein causing the computing device to present the selected enhancement content comprises causing the computing device to play the song while the computing device presents the portion of the base item of content.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the layer of the base item of content is one of a title layer, a setting layer or a chapter layer.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the layer of the base item of content indicates one of a location, setting or mood that is associated with each of a plurality of content portions that are included in the layer.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying the layer of the base item of content that includes the portion comprises:

retrieving stored layer information associated with the base item of content, wherein the stored layer information identifies a plurality of layers and one or more portions of the base item of content that are included in each layer of the plurality of layers.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by one or more computing devices, configure the one or more computing devices to perform operations comprising:

identifying an object present in a first portion of digital content, the object comprising at least one of a word or an image in the first portion of digital content;

determining a characteristic of a larger portion of the digital content, wherein the larger portion includes the first portion of the digital content and at least a second portion of the digital content, wherein the first portion and the second portion have the characteristic of the larger portion in common;

selecting enhancement content corresponding to the object, wherein the enhancement content is selected based at least in part on the characteristic of the larger portion of the digital content; and

substantially while a computing device is presenting the first portion of digital content in which the object is present, causing the computing device to present the enhancement content corresponding to the object.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on a determination that the enhancement content corresponding to the object is not stored in a local electronic data store, obtaining the enhancement content corresponding to the object from a remote electronic data store; and

storing, to the local electronic data store, the obtained item of enhancement content corresponding to the object.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein:

the portion of digital content has a characteristic; and

the obtained enhancement content matches the characteristic of the portion of digital content.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the object is associated with a sound, and wherein the enhancement content comprises the sound.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein selecting the enhancement content further comprises:

identifying, in an electronic data store, multiple items of enhancement content that are each associated with the object; and

selecting one of the multiple items based at least in part on the characteristic of the larger portion of the digital content.

16. A system comprising:

a data store configured to store a base item of content; and

a computing device in communication with the data store and that is configured to at least;

determine, based at least in part on a textual representation of a first portion of the base item of content, a characteristic of the first portion of the base item of content;

determine a characteristic of a larger portion of the base item of content, wherein the larger portion includes the first portion of the base item of content and at least a second portion of the base item of content, wherein the first portion and the second portion have the characteristic of the larger portion in common;

select enhancement content based at least in part on the characteristic of the first portion of the base item of content and the characteristic of the larger portion of the base item of content, wherein the characteristic of the first portion is different than the characteristic of the larger portion; and

electronically present the selected enhancement content.

17. The system of claim 16, where the characteristic of the first portion of the base item of content includes a mood.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the characteristic of the first portion of the base item of content is prioritized relative to at least one other characteristic when selecting enhancement content.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the selected enhancement content comprises digital audio content.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the computing device is further configured to identify an object in the portion of the base item of content, wherein the object is associated with a sound, and wherein the enhancement content comprises the sound.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the enhancement content comprises digital visual content.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the computing device is further configured to present the first portion of the base item of content while the selected enhancement content is presented.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein the characteristic of the larger portion is one of a location, setting, mood, time, event, genre or character that the first portion and the second portion have in common.

27. The system of claim 16, wherein the computing device being configured to determine the characteristic of the larger portion comprises the computing device being further configured to:

identify, in a textual representation of the larger portion of the base item of content, a word that has been previously associated with the characteristic of the larger portion.

28. The system of claim 16, wherein the larger portion of the base item of content is one of a chapter, an episode, an act, a scene, a page, or the base item of content as a whole.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the computing device being configured to determine the characteristic of the larger portion comprises the computing device being further configured to:

retrieve the characteristic of the larger portion from stored data that identifies one or more characteristics associated with the larger portion.