Multi-Sided Media Viewer and Technique for Media Association

• US 20090019078A1
• Filed: 05/05/2008
• Published: 01/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NBC Universal Media LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NBC Universal Incorporated (GE Aerospace)
• Inventors: Haas, Jason, Chisholm, Alexander S., Stupay, Robert, Abbott, Kathleen K.
• Granted Patent: US 8,782,043 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04802 3D-info-object: information is displayed on the internal or external surface of a three dimensional manipulable object, e.g. on the faces of a cube that can be rotated by the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/025 'Virtual' control panels, e.g. Graphical User Interface [GUI]

Abstract

A system provides a multi-sided media viewer capable of displaying media assets from an electronic archival news and content database. Each side of the media player contains different information regarding the media asset. A primary side of the media asset may display a media asset related to an educational program, such as a course curriculum or the like. The secondary sides of the media viewer may contain additional information regarding that media asset, including personalized information generated by a system user as well as automatically populated information, such as information collected from other external news services or content providers. The system may further provide an educational game in which users are encouraged to find and draw connections between media assets to create an interconnection of related news items. The multi-sided media viewer may be a two-sided cue card, or a multidimensional news or content element having any number of sides depending on the additional information to be displayed with the media asset.

Claims

1. A system for displaying an association of media content with information stored in a database, the system comprising:

a memory area for storing the media content for display to a user;

a processor to execute computer-executable instructions for, identifying the media content to be displayed to the user, and displaying the media content and associated information to a user in a manipulable manner;

an archival news system to identify associated information stored in the database and related to the media content; and

a media player generator to generate and display a multi-sided news element having a primary side to display the media content and at least one secondary side to display the associated information, wherein the media player generator is capable of interconnecting one of the primary side and the at least one secondary side of the multi-sided news element to another news element.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the multi-sided news element is a two-sided cue card.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the multi-sided news element is a three-dimensionally depicted news element containing more than two sides.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the primary side includes a first tab that when selected by the user exposes a window through which the user may enter personalized information related to the media content.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the media player generator is capable of populating the at least one secondary side with the personalized information, including multiple user discussions and/or comments.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the primary side further includes a video media player for playing the media content.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the primary side further includes a second tab that when selected by a user exposes a window containing a transcript related to the media content.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the media player generator comprises:

a primary side media generator for playing or displaying the media content to the user;

a secondary side media generator for compiling the at least one secondary side to contain the collected information; and

a graphics engine for displaying the primary side and the at least one secondary side in a graphic form that may be presented to the user through a graphical user interface and manipulated by the user using the graphic user interface.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the another news element contains multiple sides, and wherein the media player generator is capable of interconnecting one of the primary side and the at least one secondary side of the multi-sided news element to one of the sides of the another news element.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the media player generator is capable of interconnecting one of the primary side and the at least one secondary side of the multi-sided news element to multiple other news elements.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the media player generator generates a window displaying multiple multi-sided news elements and displays user created interconnections between the multiple multi-sided news elements.

12. A computer-readable medium for displaying an association of media content with information stored in a database, comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to:

identify the media content to be displayed to the user;

identify information stored in the database and related to the media content;

associate the identified information with the media content in a multi-sided news element having a primary side to display the media content and at least one secondary side to display the associated information;

displaying the multi-sided news element in a manipulable manner to allow a user to adjust the depiction of the multi-sided news element from displaying one of the sides of the multi-sided news elements to displaying another side of the multi-sided news elements, wherein the multi-sided news element is either,

a two-sided cue card, or

a three-dimensionally depicted news element containing more than two sides, and wherein the computer-readable medium comprises further instructions that when executed cause the computer to manipulate the depiction of the displayed multi-sided news element to visually simulate moving the multi-sided news element in a three-dimensional space on a display.

13. The system of claim 12, the computer-readable medium comprising further instructions that when executed cause the computer to:

interconnect one of the primary side and the at least one secondary side of the multi-sided news element to another multi-sided news element; and

manipulate the depiction of the multi-sided news element without altering the depiction of the another multi-sided news element.

14. The system of claim 12, the computer-readable medium comprising further instructions that when executed cause the computer to:

interconnect one of the primary side and the at least one secondary side of the multi-sided news element to another multi-sided news element; and

to manipulate the depiction of the another multi-sided news element when manipulating the depiction of the multi-sided news element.

15. The system of claim 12, the computer-readable medium comprising further instructions that when executed cause the computer to interconnect one of the primary side and the at least one secondary side of the multi-sided news element to multiple other multi-sided news elements.

16. The system of claim 12, the computer-readable medium comprising further instructions that when executed cause the computer to provide the primary side of the multi-sided news element with a first tab that when selected by the user exposes a window through which the user may enter personalized information related to the media content.

17. The system of claim 16, the computer-readable medium comprising further instructions that when executed cause the computer to populate the at least one secondary side with the personalized information, multiple user discussions or user comments.

18. The system of claim 16, the computer-readable medium comprising further instructions that when executed cause the computer to include a video media player on the primary side for playing the media content.

19. The system of claim 16, the computer-readable medium comprising further instructions that when executed cause the computer to include a second tab on the primary side that when selected by a user exposes a window containing a transcript related to the media content.

20. The system of claim 12, the computer-readable medium comprising further instructions that when executed cause the computer to:

generate a window displaying multiple multi-sided news elements; and

display user created interconnections between the multiple multi-sided news elements.

21. A method displaying media content and related information, the method comprising:

creating a graphical display of a multi-sided news element having a primary side and at least one secondary side each variably visible to a user through manipulation of the graphical display of the news element;

providing a media playing on the primary side for playing the media content; and

displaying the related information on the at least one secondary side.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

obtaining the media content from a first database, the media content containing video data, audio data, or image data; and

obtaining the related information from a second database.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the first database and the second database are contained within the same master database.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the multi-sided news element is a two-sided cue card.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the multi-sided news element is a three-dimensionally depicted news element containing more than two sides.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

providing a first tab on the primary side, such that when a user selects the first tab a window is exposed through which the user may enter personalized information related to the media content.

27. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

providing a second tab on the primary side, such that when a user selects the second tab a window containing a transcript related to the media content is displayed.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

generating a first secondary side containing personalized information and a second secondary side containing related information obtained from an external database.

29. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

graphically interconnecting the multi-sided news element to another news element by displaying a chord extending between the two.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

graphically interconnecting a selected side of the primary side and the at least one secondary side of the multi-sided news element to the another news element by displaying the chord extending from the selected side.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the another news element is a multi-sided news element, the method further comprising graphically interconnecting the selected side of the multi-sided news element to a selected side of the another multi-sided news element.

32. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

displaying a plurality of the multi-sided news elements, each pertaining to a different media content to be displayed on a respective primary side and each having different related information to be displayed on a respective secondary side;

correlating at least some of the plurality of multi-sided news elements based on the related information of the plurality of multi-sided news elements; and

polling a user to correlate at least one other of the plurality of multi-sided news elements, and displaying the user correlation.