Generating a playlist based on a data generation attribute

• US 9,804,816 B2
• Filed: 08/23/2016
• Issued: 10/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gracenote Digital Ventures LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Original Assignee: Gracenote Digital Ventures LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Inventors: Panguluri, Venkatarama Anilkumar, Yarram, Venkata Sunil Kumar, Sunku, Raghavendra
• Primary Examiner(s): Saunders, Jr., Joseph
• Application Number:
  US15/244,561
• Publication Number:
  US 20160357500A1
• Time in Patent Office: 434 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/16 Sound input; Sound output speech processing G10L
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/08 Text analysis or generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text, e.g. grapheme to phoneme translation, prosody generation or stress or intonation determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26233 involving content or additional data duration or size, e.g. length of a movie, size of an executable file
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• 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 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82

Abstract

An example method involves determining an attribute associated with an audible version of a news story, wherein the attribute indicates a manner in which data representing the audible version of the news story was generated; using the determined attribute associated with the audible version of the news story as a basis to generate a playlist of a news program that includes the audible version of the news story; and transmitting the generated playlist to a client device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a data generation attribute associated with an audible version of a story, wherein the data generation attribute indicates that the audible version of the story was generated either by recording a human verbal reading of a text based version of the story, or by a text-to-speech system operating on the text based version of the story;

based on the data generation attribute, generating a playlist that includes a reference to the audible version of the story; and

transmitting the playlist to a client device, wherein reception of the playlist causes the client device to;

read the reference from the playlist,

transmit, to a server associated with the reference, a request for the audible version of the story,

receive, from the server, the audible version of the story, and

audibly play out the audible version of the story.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the playlist comprises:

based on the data generation attribute, selecting audible versions of stories from a group of audible versions of stories, wherein the selected audible versions of stories includes the audible version of the story; and

including, in the playlist, references to each of the selected audible versions of stories.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein each of the selected audible versions of stories was generated by either recording a human verbal reading or by the text-to-speech system, and wherein the references to the selected audible versions of stories are ordered in the playlist so that references to verbally read stories are interspersed with references to text-to-speech generated stories.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein ordering the references comprises ensuring that no more than a maximum number of references to text-to-speech generated stories separate references to verbally read stories.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein ordering the references comprises grouping the verbally read stories in a particular location in the playlist.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the playlist further comprises:

based on the data generation attribute, determining an arrangement of the selected audible versions of stories; and

ordering the references in accordance with the arrangement.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the arrangement is predetermined.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the playlist comprises:

selecting a playlist template that defines a sequence of content for the playlist; and

based on the playlist template, selecting the audible versions of stories from the group of audible versions of stories.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining a user attribute associated with a user of the client device, wherein selecting the playlist template is based on the user attribute.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the server generates the playlist.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the audible version of the story comprises receiving a stream of the audible version of the story, and wherein audibly playing out the audible version of the story comprises beginning playout of the audible version of the story while receiving the stream.

12. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

determining a data generation attribute associated with an audible version of a story, wherein the data generation attribute indicates that the audible version of the story was generated either by recording a human verbal reading of a text based version of the story, or by a text-to-speech system operating on the text based version of the story;

based on the data generation attribute, generating a playlist that includes a reference to the audible version of the story; and

transmitting the playlist to a client device, wherein reception of the playlist causes the client device to;

read the reference from the playlist,

transmit, to a server associated with the reference, a request for the audible version of the story,

receive, from the server, the audible version of the story, and

audibly play out the audible version of the story.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 12, wherein generating the playlist comprises:

based on the data generation attribute, selecting audible versions of stories from a group of audible versions of stories, wherein the selected audible versions of stories includes the audible version of the story; and

including, in the playlist, references to each of the selected audible versions of stories.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein each of the selected audible versions of stories was generated by either recording a human verbal reading or by the text-to-speech system, and wherein the references to the selected audible versions of stories are ordered in the playlist so that references to verbally read stories are interspersed with references to text-to-speech generated stories.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 14, wherein ordering the references comprises ensuring that no more than a maximum number of references to text-to-speech generated stories separate references to verbally read stories.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 14, wherein ordering the references comprises grouping the verbally read stories in a particular location in the playlist.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein generating the playlist further comprises:

based on the data generation attribute, determining an arrangement of the selected audible versions of stories; and

ordering the references in accordance with the arrangement.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 12, wherein generating the playlist comprises:

selecting a playlist template that defines a sequence of content for the playlist; and

based on the playlist template, selecting the audible versions of stories from the group of audible versions of stories.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 18, the operation further comprising:

determining a user attribute associated with a user of the client device, wherein selecting the playlist template is based on the user attribute.

20. A computing device comprising:

at least one processor;

memory; and

program instructions, stored in the memory, that upon execution by the at least one processor cause the computing device to perform operations comprising;

determining a data generation attribute associated with an audible version of a story, wherein the data generation attribute indicates that the audible version of the story was generated either by recording a human verbal reading of a text based version of the story, or by a text-to-speech system operating on the text based version of the story;

based on the data generation attribute, generating a playlist that includes a reference to the audible version of the story; and

transmitting the playlist to a client device, wherein reception of the playlist causes the client device to;

read the reference from the playlist,

transmit, to a server associated with the reference, a request for the audible version of the story,

receive, from the server, the audible version of the story, and

audibly play out the audible version of the story.