Method and apparatus for presenting media programs

• US 10,419,819 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2018
• Issued: 09/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2009
• 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 Arthur
• Primary Examiner(s): Dubasky, Gigi L
• Application Number:
  US15/966,634
• Publication Number:
  US 20180249216A1
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• 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 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8173 End-user applications, e.g. Web browser, game
• 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 conduct searches for one of consumer products or consumer services associated with the media content based on the commentary regarding the media content. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A system, 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;

receiving a cluster of commentaries in accordance with a frequency of occurrence of commentaries in the cluster during a presentation of media content, wherein a portion of the commentaries are received from external devices, wherein the media content is displayed on a display screen, and wherein the cluster of commentaries are displayed in an overlaid area of the display screen;

identifying an item in a commentary from the cluster of commentaries resulting in an identified item;

providing a first graphical representation of the commentary associated with the identified item on the display screen;

presenting a second graphical representation of a shopping cart on the display screen;

conducting a search for a plurality of similar items from competitors using an internet search engine based on the identified item associated with the media content in response to user-generated input causing a dragging of the first graphical representation to the second graphical representation on the display screen; and

providing results of the search and the identified item for display in the overlaid area, wherein the results of the search are arranged in a carousel, wherein the carousel arranges the results of the search to rotate into view within a window on the display screen.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise:

providing the media content to a media device for a presentation on the display screen of a display device associated with a first user; and

providing an overlay superimposed on the media content, wherein the display screen accordingly having the overlaid area, wherein the overlaid area comprising a graphical user interface.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the item is shown in a scene during the presentation of the media content, wherein the overlay comprises a timeline associated with the presentation of the media content and a plurality of icons positioned along the timeline.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise receiving an input from the media device to invoke the search.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise:

receiving the cluster of commentaries in accordance with a frequency of occurrence of the commentaries during the presentation of the media content, wherein at least one of the cluster of commentaries is received from a mobile device associated with a second user; and

exporting the cluster of commentaries and a portion of the media content associated with the cluster, in response to a request from a media device wherein the cluster of commentaries are presented on the display screen of a display device coupled to the media device.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein each commentary from the cluster is authored by a commentator, wherein an icon is associated with a commentary resulting in an associated commentary, wherein the icon is associated with a commentator resulting in an associated commentator.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the icon comprises one of an avatar representation of the associated commentator, a webcam image of the associated commentator, a still image of the associated commentator, and an animated representation of the associated commentator.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the media content is presented at a plurality of media devices, and wherein each commentator corresponds to a user of each of the media devices.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the search is based on a comparison of content in the cluster of commentaries to meta tags in a frame associated with the media content.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises video content.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the item is one of a product or a service.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein a meta tag associated with the commentary links the commentary to the media content.

13. 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:

receiving a cluster of commentaries in accordance with a frequency of occurrence of commentaries in the cluster during a presentation of media content, wherein a portion of the commentaries are received from external devices, wherein the media content is displayed on a display screen, and wherein the cluster of commentaries are displayed in an overlaid area of the display screen;

identifying an item in a commentary from the cluster of commentaries resulting in an identified item;

providing a first graphical representation of the commentary associated with the identified item on the display screen;

presenting a second graphical representation of a shopping cart on the display screen;

conducting a search for a plurality of similar items from competitors using an internet search engine based on the identified item associated with the media content in response to user-generated input causing a dragging of the first graphical representation to the second graphical representation on the display screen wherein the search is based on a comparison of content in the cluster of commentaries to meta tags in a frame associated with the media content; and

providing results of the search and the identified item for display in the overlaid area, wherein the results of the search are arranged in a carousel, wherein the carousel arranges the results of the search to rotate into view within a window on the display screen.

14. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operations comprise:

providing the media content to a media device for a presentation on the display screen of a display device associated with a first user; and

providing an overlay superimposed on the media content, wherein the display screen accordingly having the overlaid area, wherein the overlaid area comprising a graphical user interface.

15. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operations comprise:

receiving the cluster of commentaries in accordance with a frequency of occurrence of the commentaries during the presentation of the media content, wherein at least one of the cluster of commentaries is received from a mobile device associated with a second user; and

exporting the cluster of commentaries and a portion of the media content associated with the cluster, in response to a request from a media device wherein the cluster of commentaries are presented on the display screen of a display device coupled to the media device.

16. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein each commentary from the cluster is authored by a commentator, wherein an icon is associated with a commentary resulting in an associated commentary, wherein the icon is associated with a commentator resulting in an associated commentator.

17. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the icon comprises one of an avatar representation of the associated commentator, a webcam image of the associated commentator, a still image of the associated commentator, and an animated representation of the associated commentator.

18. A method comprising:

receiving, by a processing system including a processor, a cluster of commentaries in accordance with a frequency of occurrence of commentaries in the cluster during a presentation of media content, wherein a portion of the commentaries are received from external devices, wherein the media content is displayed on a display screen of a display device, and wherein the cluster of commentaries are displayed in an overlaid area of the display screen;

providing, by the processing system, the media content to a media device for a presentation on the display screen of the display device associated with a first user;

identifying, by the processing system, an item in a commentary from the cluster of commentaries resulting in an identified item, wherein the cluster of commentaries is associated with the media content;

providing, by the processing system, a first graphical representation of the commentary associated with the identified item on the display screen;

presenting, by the processing system, a second graphical representation of a shopping cart on the display screen;

conducting, by the processing system, a search for a plurality of similar items from competitors using an internet search engine based on the identified item associated with the media content in response to user-generated input causing a dragging of the first graphical representation to the second graphical representation on the display screen; and

providing, by the processing system, results of the search and the identified item for display in an overlaid area, wherein the results of the search are arranged in a carousel, wherein the carousel arranges the results of the search to rotate into view within a window on the display screen.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising:

providing, by the processing system, an overlay superimposed on the media content, wherein the display screen accordingly having the overlaid area, wherein the overlaid area comprising a graphical user interface.

20. The method of claim 18, comprising:

receiving, by the processing system, the cluster of commentaries in accordance with a frequency of occurrence of the commentaries during the presentation of the media content, wherein at least one of the cluster of commentaries is received from a mobile device associated with a second user; and

exporting, by the processing system, the cluster of commentaries and a portion of the media content associated with the cluster, in response to a request from the media device wherein the cluster of commentaries are presented on the display screen of the display device coupled to the media device.