Collaborative media sharing

• US 9,245,020 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2011
• Issued: 01/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Joffray, Flynn, Halai, Sameer, Coy, Stephen, Ickman, Steve, Newman, Todd, Portnoy, Will
• Primary Examiner(s): Pan, Yongjia
• Application Number:
  US13/325,873
• Publication Number:
  US 20130159858A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,504 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/735 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4307 Synchronising the rendering of multiple content streams or additional data on devices, e.g. synchronisation of audio on a mobile phone with the video output on the TV screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection

Abstract

A media party network service manages a set of media parties and a set of users of the media party service. Managing the media parties can involve instantiating new media parties according to input from the users, allowing the users to join the media parties, and tracking which users are participating in which media parties. Managing a given one of the media parties may include maintaining a queue of media items, allowing users in the media party to provide input to add media items to the queue and to provide input to skip media items in the queue. The media party service streams the given one of the media parties to client devices of the users currently in the given media party such that all of the client devices are currently displaying substantially a same part of a media item in the corresponding queue.

Claims

1. A method performed by one or more computers to implement a network service, the method of the network service comprising:

storing and maintaining a set of media parties, each media party comprising a respective queue of media items and a respective group of participants able to participate with instances of a user interface provided at least in part by the network service;

for each of the media parties, storing a respective history of media items played, each media party having a respective history of media items played therefor, each history of media items continuing to be stored after the corresponding media items indicated therein have been played from the corresponding queues; and

wherein each user interface comprises a search element, wherein when a user inputs a search in the search element of a first user interface corresponding to the given media party, a new media item is selected from a corresponding media search result provided by a social search engine, and the new media item is added to the media queue of the given media party, the social search engine allowing social sharing of searches among users of the social search engine, wherein the social search engine shares the search inputted by the user with other users of the social search engine.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein when the new media item is added a corresponding icon is displayed on the user interfaces that are displaying the given media party.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the network service simultaneously plays a current media item in the media queue to the client devices of the participants in the given media party, and any of the client devices can scrub the current media item such that a current play point of the current media item changes for all of the client devices.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the client devices display substantially a same part of the current media item at a substantially same time.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein when determined that a sufficient number of participants in the given media party have submitted queue-edit votes directed to a media item in the queue of the given media party, performing a corresponding queue-edit for the queue and the media item.

6. A computing device displaying a user interface on a display of the computing device, the user interface operated by a participant in a video party, the user interface on the display comprising:

a graphic queue, displayed on the display, comprised of icons of video clips in a media queue of the video party, the graphic queue including an icon of a current video clip and icons of other respective video clips queued to be displayed in a main video display area of the display, wherein the user interface is configured to be interacted with by the user to input annotations to the main video display area to annotate the current video clip being displayed in the main video display area, wherein the input of the annotations causes the annotations to be displayed in displays of the current video clip at client applications of respective other current participants in the video party;

the main media video display area in which the current video clip in the media queue is displayed; and

a search element displayed on the display, wherein when the user inputs in the search element a search corresponding to the video party, a new media item is selected from a corresponding media search result provided by a search engine, and the new media item is added to the media queue of the given media party, the search engine allowing sharing of searches among users of the search engine, wherein the search engine shares the search inputted by the user with other users of the search engine; and

graphic indicators, displayed on the display, representing other current participants in the video party.

7. A computing device according to claim 6, wherein the other current participants are operating respective instances of the user interface.

8. A computing device according to claim 6, where the user interface was interacted with by the participant to instantiate the video party, and the other current participants then joined the video party via a social search engine.

9. A computing device according to claim 6, the user interface comprising a chat area that allows the participant to chat with the other current participants.

10. A computing device according to claim 9, wherein when the participant joins another video party, the user interface updates to display indicia of the other video party and the graphic queue comprises icons of video clips in a queue of the other video party.

11. A computing device according to claim 6, wherein the main video display area displays video that lags video displayed for other participants of the video party, and a network service providing the video alters a rate of the video to cause the participant to catch up and begin displaying the same part of a video being displayed for the other participants of the video party.

12. A computing device according to claim 6, further comprising an invite user interface element that can be activated by the participant to invite to the video party other users of a network service managing the video party.

13. A computing device according to claim 6, further comprising a user interface element for scrubbing the currently playing media item, wherein when another participant scrubs the currently playing media item the user interface element displays an avatar of the other participant.

14. A computing device according to claim 6, wherein when any of the current other participants inputs an annotation via a corresponding one of the client applications, in response, the annotation is displayed in the main video display area of corresponding other client applications participating in a same media party.

15. One or more computer-readable storage media, not comprising a signal, and storing information to enable one or more computers to perform a process of operating a media party service, the process comprising:

managing a set of media parties, and managing a set of users of the media party service, the managing the set of media parties including instantiating new media parties according to input from the users, allowing the users to join the media parties, and tracking which users are participating in which media parties;

managing a given one of the media parties by;

maintaining a queue of media items comprised of ordered identifiers of media items, wherein the media party service stores a log of events of the given media party, the events corresponding to at least adding media items to the queue, removing media items from the queue, playing of media items;

synchronously streaming the given one of the media parties to client devices of users currently participating in the given media party such that all of the client devices are caused to display a substantially same part of a media item in the corresponding queue; and

integrating a search engine with the media party service, the search engine accessible to the users in the set of users, wherein search results of the search engine are able to be interactively selected to be added to the media parties, wherein the search results correspond to searches inputted by the users, and wherein the searches are shared with other users by the search engine and wherein information about the media parties, and wherein the search results correspond to searches inputted by the users, and wherein the searches are shared with other users by the search engine.

16. One or more computer-readable storage media according to claim 15, wherein a given media item is reordered or removed from a given queue by storing a count of user votes directed to the given media item and reordering the given media item in the given queue when the count exceeds a threshold.

17. One or more computer-readable storage media according to claim 15, further comprising receiving a query from a given user in the given media party, receiving search results comprised of a list of media items that match the query, passing the list to a client device of the given user, and adding to the queue of the given party a media item selected from the list at the client device.

18. One or more computer-readable storage media according to claim 15, wherein the media party service provides open access to the video parties such that any user can join any media party and any user in a media party can direct input to a corresponding queue to modify the membership or order of media items in the queue.

19. One or more computer-readable storage media according to claim 15, the process further comprising maintaining histories of the respective media parties and allowing users to play a history of a media party.