Distributed aggregated content guide for collaborative playback session
First Claim
1. A method of enabling a collaborative playback session for a distributed group of users located at a plurality of distributed user sites consisting of a first user site and one or more second user sites, each user site of the plurality of distributed user sites comprising one or more media controllers having access to media content and one or more renderers that operate to render the media content accessible to the one or more media controllers at the user site, comprising:
- generating a distributed aggregate guide that identifies a plurality of media items accessible to the media controllers at the plurality of distributed user sites, wherein generating the distributed aggregate guide comprises;
obtaining, by a distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, information that identifies media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the first user site;
obtaining, by the distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, information that identifies media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the one or more second user sites;
aggregating, by the distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, the information that identifies the media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the first user site and the information that identifies the media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the one or more second user sites to generate the distributed aggregate guide that identifies the plurality of media items accessible to the media controllers at the plurality of distributed user sites; and
causing display of the distributed aggregate guide in a personalized manner to a user at one of the one or more renderers at the first user site by displaying the distributed aggregate guide in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) including indicators of a degree of similarity between each of the plurality of media items and user preferences of the user at the one of the one or more renderers at the first user site;
receiving media item suggestions for the collaborative playback session selected from the distributed aggregate guide by at least a subset of the distributed group of users; and
selecting a media item for the collaborative playback session based on the media item suggestions,wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one electronic hardware component.
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Abstract
A system and method are disclosed for enabling a distributed group of users to collaboratively select a media item for a collaborative playback session. In one embodiment, a distributed group of users for a collaborative playback session is formed, where the distributed group of users includes a number of users located at a number of geographically distributed user sites. Each user site includes one or more media controllers having access to media content and one or more renderers that operate to render the media content. A distributed aggregate guide that includes a listing of media content accessible to the media controllers at all of the user sites is generated and utilized by users at the user sites to suggest media items for the collaborative playback session. Based on the suggestions of the users, a media item for the collaborative playback session is selected.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method of enabling a collaborative playback session for a distributed group of users located at a plurality of distributed user sites consisting of a first user site and one or more second user sites, each user site of the plurality of distributed user sites comprising one or more media controllers having access to media content and one or more renderers that operate to render the media content accessible to the one or more media controllers at the user site, comprising:
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generating a distributed aggregate guide that identifies a plurality of media items accessible to the media controllers at the plurality of distributed user sites, wherein generating the distributed aggregate guide comprises; obtaining, by a distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, information that identifies media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the first user site; obtaining, by the distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, information that identifies media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the one or more second user sites; aggregating, by the distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, the information that identifies the media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the first user site and the information that identifies the media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the one or more second user sites to generate the distributed aggregate guide that identifies the plurality of media items accessible to the media controllers at the plurality of distributed user sites; and causing display of the distributed aggregate guide in a personalized manner to a user at one of the one or more renderers at the first user site by displaying the distributed aggregate guide in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) including indicators of a degree of similarity between each of the plurality of media items and user preferences of the user at the one of the one or more renderers at the first user site; receiving media item suggestions for the collaborative playback session selected from the distributed aggregate guide by at least a subset of the distributed group of users; and selecting a media item for the collaborative playback session based on the media item suggestions, wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one electronic hardware component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A system at a first user site, comprising system component including:
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one or more media controllers at the first user site that have access to media content; one or more renderers associated with the one or more media controllers at the first user site that operate to render the media content accessible to the one or more media controllers; and a distributed aggregate guide client associated with the one or more media controllers and the one or more renderers at the first user site that operates to enable a collaborative playback session for a distributed group of users located at a plurality of distributed user sites consisting of the first user site and one or more second user sites, the distributed aggregate guide client being configured to; generate a distributed aggregate guide that identifies a plurality of media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the first user site and one or more media controllers at each of the one or more second user sites, wherein generating the distributed aggregate guide comprises; obtaining, by a distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, information that identifies media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the first user site; obtaining, by the distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, information that identifies media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the one or more second user sites; aggregating, by the distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, the information that identifies the media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the first user site and the information that identifies the media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the one or more second user sites to generate the distributed aggregate guide that identifies the plurality of media items accessible to the media controllers at the plurality of distributed user sites; and causing display of the distributed aggregate guide in a personalized manner to a user at one of the one or more renderers at the first user site by displaying the distributed aggregate guide in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) including indicators of a degree of similarity between each of the plurality of media items and user preferences of the user at the one of the one or more renderers at the first user site; receive media item suggestions for the collaborative playback session selected from the distributed aggregate guide by at least a subset of the distributed group of users; and select a media item for the collaborative playback session based on the media item suggestions, wherein at least one of the system components includes at least one electronic hardware component. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software for instructing a controller of a computing device to:
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generate a distributed aggregate guide that identifies a plurality of media items accessible to media controllers at a plurality of distributed user sites consisting of a first user site and one or more second user sites, wherein to generate the distributed aggregate guide, the controller of the computing device is instructed to; obtain, by a distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, information that identifies media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the first user site; obtain, by the distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, information that identifies media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the one or more second user sites; aggregate, by the distributed aggregate guide client of the first user site, the information that identifies the media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the first user site and the information that identifies the media items accessible to the one or more media controllers at the one or more second user sites to generate the distributed aggregate guide that identifies the plurality of media items accessible to the media controllers at the plurality of distributed user sites; and cause display of the distributed aggregate guide in a personalized manner to a user at one of the one or more renderers at the first user site by displaying the distributed aggregate guide in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) including indicators of a degree of similarity between each of the plurality of media items and user preferences of the user at the one of the one or more renderers at the first user site; receive media item suggestions for a collaborative playback session selected from the distributed aggregate guide by at least a subset of a distributed group of users located at the plurality of distributed user sites; and select a media item for the collaborative playback session based on the media item suggestions.
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Specification