System and method to identify an item depicted when media content is displayed

• US 9,407,973 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2009
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pratt, James, Belz, Steven M., Edwards, Gregory, Vleck, Paul Van
• Primary Examiner(s): EKPO, NNENNA NGOZI
• Application Number:
  US12/629,546
• Publication Number:
  US 20110131605A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,435 Days
• Field of Search: 725/60, 725/61, 725/40, 707/769, 707/E17.004, 707/E17.02
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• 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

A computer-implemented method includes receiving, at a set-top box device, media content from a media content server. The media content includes one or more metadata tags associated with one or more items depicted when the media content is displayed. The computer-implemented method includes sending the media content to a display device. The computer-implemented method also includes receiving a first user selection to visually identify the one or more items. The computer-implemented method also includes receiving a purchase request to purchase at least one of the one or more items depicted.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a media device, media content from a media content server, the media content including a metadata tag associated with a first item;

sending the media content to a display device;

receiving a first user selection indicating a request for information about a second item depicted in the media content, wherein the media content does not include a metadata tag associated with the second item;

performing, at the media device in response to the request for information about the second item, a screen capture of the media content, wherein the screen capture depicts the first item and the second item;

generating an image of the second item by modifying the screen capture to exclude a depiction of the first item;

sending an identification request to an identification server in response to the first user selection, wherein the identification request includes the image of the second item; and

receiving a second metadata tag associated with the second item from the identification server in response to the identification request, wherein the second metadata tag is based on the image of the second item.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second user selection indicating a request for information about the first item;

in response to the second user selection, sending a second identification request including the metadata tag associated with the first item from the media device to the identification server;

receiving the information about the first item from the identification server; and

sending the information about the first item to the display device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the information about the second item from the identification server; and

sending the information about the second item to the display device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving coordinates of a grid associated with the media content, wherein the coordinates identify a location of the second item in the grid; and

generating the image of the second item based on the coordinates.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying, at the media device, the media content based on the second metadata tag.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second user selection to visually identify the first item in the media content;

in response to the second user selection;

pausing the media content; and

sending a display request to the display device to visually identify the first item in the media content; and

receiving a purchase request to purchase the first item depicted in the media content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first item is visually identified in the media content by a square, a triangle, or a circle.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content includes a third metadata tag associated with a third item, wherein sending the media content to the display device includes selectively adding a visual representation corresponding to the metadata tag based on the metadata tag and not adding a second visual representation corresponding to the third metadata tag based on the third metadata tag.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the screen capture comprises trimming a dimension of the screen capture.

8. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a storage device coupled to the processor, the storage device comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations including;

receiving an identification request from a media device for information about an item depicted in media content, the identification request including an image of the item retrieved from the media content by performance of a screen capture and modification of the screen capture to exclude other items from the image, wherein the media content does not include a metadata tag associated with the item;

performing a search to determine an identity of the item based on the image of the item;

retrieving a metadata tag associated with the item based on the identity of the item; and

sending the metadata tag to the media device.

20. The system of claim 8, wherein the media device is configured to perform the screen capture in response to a request for information about the item, and

wherein the request for information is received at the media device.

9. A media device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving media content including a metadata tag associated with a first item;

receiving a first user selection indicating a request for information about a second item depicted in the media content, wherein the media content does not include a metadata tag associated with the second item;

performing, in response to the request for information about the second item, a screen capture of the media content, wherein the screen capture depicts the first item and the second item;

generating an image of the second item by modifying the screen capture to exclude a depiction of the first item; and

sending an identification request to an identification server in response to the first user selection, wherein the identification request includes the image of the second item; and

receiving a second metadata tag associated with the second item from the identification server in response to the identification request, wherein the second metadata tag is based on the image of the second item.

10. The media device of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a purchase request for the first item; and

receiving data from a control device, the data corresponding to an action performed on the control device that indicates the purchase request.

11. The media device of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise selecting the first item to be visually identified in the media content based on a determination that the metadata tag matches a user preference, and wherein the identification server is configured to identify the second item based on a comparison of the image to other images stored in a database.

12. The media device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise instructing a display device to display a grid over the screen capture.

13. The media device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise receiving coordinates of the grid over the screen capture from a remote control device, and wherein image of the second item is generated based on based on coordinates of the grid.

14. The media device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise sending the purchase request to an electronic commerce server, the purchase request instructing the electronic commerce server to incur a charge for a purchase of the first item to an account associated with the media device.

15. The media device of claim 14, wherein the purchase request instructs the electronic commerce server to send the first item to an address associated with the media device.

16. The media device of claim 9, wherein the media content includes a movie, a television program, an advertisement, or a combination thereof.

17. The media device of claim 9, wherein the media content is received via an internet protocol television network.