Method and apparatus for presenting media programs

• US 9,830,041 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2013
• Issued: 11/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2009
• 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: Roberts, Linda, Chang, E-Lee, Sung, Ja-Young, Schultz, Natasha Barrett, King, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Belousov, Andrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Silverman, Seth A
• Application Number:
  US13/751,211
• Publication Number:
  US 20130179788A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,765 Days
• 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: H04N 21/236 Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream multiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23614 Multiplexing of additional data and video streams arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information H04H20/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44226 on social networks
• 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 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a computing device, including a controller to: transmit a client program having a graphical user interface to a media device operating in an interactive television network, wherein the client program presents a symbolic overlay that superimposes onto media content received by the media device and enables the media device to associate commentary with the media content received at the media device; and present the commentary by symbolic representations in a carrousel format within a window of the presentation of the symbolic overlay and in a vicinity of the media content. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing, by a processing system including a processor, media content at a plurality of end user devices via a graphical user interface provided at each end user device of the plurality of end user devices, wherein the graphical user interface provides an asynchronous presentation of the media content via the graphical user interface between the plurality of end user devices;

collecting, by the processing system, actions initiated by the plurality of end user devices during the presentation of the media content through the graphical user interface, the actions being associated with the presentation of the media content;

creating, by the processing system, a symbolic overlay corresponding to the actions;

combining, by the processing system, the presentation of the media content with a presentation of the symbolic overlay in the graphical user interface;

providing, by the processing system, a timeline for presentation in the graphical user interface by the plurality of end user devices, wherein the timeline includes annotations associated with the actions and is presented in the symbolic overlay along with the presentation of the media content, and wherein the timeline corresponds to a duration of the media content;

providing, by the processing system, avatars for presentation in a carrousel format by the plurality of end user devices with the presentation of the symbolic overlay in the graphical user interface, wherein the avatars correspond to users associated with the plurality of end user devices, and wherein the carrousel format presents multiple rows of carrousels to distinguish between users, and wherein the multiple rows distinguish between levels of activity of the users;

receiving, by the processing system, comments from the end user devices during the presentation of the media content; and

inserting, by the processing system, the comments from the end user devices into the timeline to be associated with the media content at a time point of the media content the comments were received.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises video content, and wherein physical gestures of the avatars correspond to physical gestures of the users captured in images of the users.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrousel format includes a live webcam image of one of the users.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrousel format includes a depiction of one of the users.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically reordering the avatars in the carrousel format based on a measured participation of the users.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting a number of the multiple rows of carrousels according to a user input.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a cluster of comments among the comments within the timeline; and

identifying a portion of the presentation of the media content associated with the cluster of comments.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving a request for an identification of frequent commentaries from one end user device of the plurality of end user devices; and

providing an identification of the portion of the presentation of the media content associated with the cluster of comments to the one end user device.

9. A non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

collecting actions initiated by a plurality of end user devices, the actions being associated with a presentation of media content by the plurality of end user devices via a graphical user interface provided at each end user device of the plurality of end user devices, wherein the graphical user interface provides an asynchronous display of the media content via the graphical user interface between the plurality of end user devices;

creating a symbolic overlay for the graphical user interface corresponding to the actions;

combining the presentation of the media content with a presentation of the symbolic overlay in the graphical user interface;

providing a timeline for presentation by the plurality of end user devices in the symbolic overlay in the graphical user interface, wherein the timeline includes annotations associated with the actions, and wherein the timeline corresponds to a duration of the media content;

providing avatars for presentation by the plurality of end user devices with the presentation of the symbolic overlay in the graphical user interface, wherein the avatars are provided in a carrousel format for the presentation by the plurality of end user devices with the presentation of the symbolic overlay, wherein the carrousel format presents multiple rows of carrousels to distinguish between users, and wherein the carrousel format presents the multiple rows of carrousels to distinguish a level of activity of the users; and

inserting comments from the end user devices into the timeline in the graphical user interface to be associated with the media content,

wherein the avatars correspond to users associated with the plurality of end user devices, and

wherein physical gestures of the avatars correspond to physical gestures of the users captured in images of the users.

10. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise providing a live webcam image of one of the users in the carrousel format.

11. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise providing a still image of one of the users in the carrousel format.

12. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise moving an active avatar of the avatars to a different position in the graphical user interface in response to detecting a comment being provided via an active end user device of the plurality of end user devices, and

wherein an active user associated with the active end user device corresponds to the active avatar.

13. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise automatically reordering the avatars being presented by the plurality of end user devices in a carrousel format based on a measured participation of the users.

14. A server, comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

collecting commentaries initiated by a plurality of end user devices, the commentaries being associated with a presentation of media content by the plurality of end user devices via a graphical user interface presented at each end user device of the plurality of end user devices;

creating a symbolic overlay corresponding to the commentaries to be presented in the graphical user interface during the presentation of media content at each end user device of the plurality of end user devices;

combining the presentation of the media content with a presentation of the symbolic overlay in the graphical user interface;

providing a timeline for presentation by the plurality of end user devices of the commentaries during the presentation of the media content in the symbolic overlay in the graphical user interface, wherein the timeline includes annotations associated with the commentaries, and wherein the timeline corresponds to a duration of the media content;

inserting comments from the end user devices into the timeline in the graphical user interface to be associated with the media content;

providing avatars, moving images, and still images for presentation by the plurality of end user devices with the presentation of the symbolic overlay in the graphical user interface, wherein the avatars, the moving images, and the still images correspond to users associated with the plurality of end user devices, wherein the presentation of the avatars, the moving images and the still images is in a carrousel format, and wherein the carrousel format presents multiple rows of carrousels to distinguish between users; and

moving an active avatar of the avatars to a different position in the graphical user interface in response to detecting a comment being provided via an active end user device of the plurality of end user devices.

15. The server of claim 14, wherein the commentaries are user-generated commentaries captured at the plurality of end user devices.

16. The server of claim 14, wherein an active user associated with the active end user device corresponds to the active avatar, and

wherein the graphical user interface provides an asynchronous display of the media content via the graphical user interface between the plurality of end user devices.

17. The server of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise automatically reordering the avatars, the moving images and the still images in a carrousel format being presented by the plurality of end user devices based on a measured participation of the users.