INFORMATION PROCESSING

• US 20130287365A1
• Filed: 04/27/2012
• Published: 10/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Basapur, Santosh S., Lee, Young S., Mandalia, Hiren M., Novak, Ashley B., Venkitaraman, Narayanan, Chaysinh, Shirley A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,386,357 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/241
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/251 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies details of learning user preferences for the retrieval of video data in a video database G06F16/739; computer systems using learning methods G06N3/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• 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 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• 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 21/8547 involving timestamps for synchronizing content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver

Abstract

Disclosed are methods and apparatus for displaying information relating to a portion of a multimedia presentation. A progress bar is provided and displayed. A length of the progress bar is representative of a duration of the multimedia presentation. A user selects a first and a second point in the multimedia presentation, thereby defining a portion of the presentation. Depending on the selection, one or more communications (e.g., comments, online postings, etc.) may be identified. Each of these communications may have been composed in relation to at least a point of the multimedia presentation that is within the defined portion. Information depending on those identified communications may then be displayed to the user.

Claims

1. A method of displaying a plurality of presentation elements, the method comprising:

displaying, on a user interface, a progress bar, a length of the progress bar being representative of a duration of a multimedia presentation, a point along the length of the progress bar corresponding to a point within the multimedia presentation;

displaying, on the progress bar, a first point along the length of the progress bar, the first point being distinct from an end of the progress bar;

displaying, on the progress bar, a second point along the length of the progress bar, the second point being different from the first point; and

displaying, on the user interface, information, the information being dependent on one or more communications;

wherein each communication has been composed in relation to a respective point or range within the multimedia presentation; and

wherein the points or ranges within the multimedia presentation that the communications have been composed in relation to are between points in the multimedia presentation that correspond to the first point and the second point.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the displayed information is information selected from a group consisting of:

one or more of the communications, a summary of one or more of the communications, and a summary of the portion of the multimedia presentation that is between the first point and the second point, the summary being dependent on one or more of the communications.

3. A method according to claim 1:

wherein each communication is displayed in a respective communication box;

wherein each communication box comprises a respective marker; and

wherein the progress bar and the communication boxes are displayed such that, for each communication box, the marker of that communication box is in alignment with a particular position along the length of the progress bar, the particular position corresponding to the point or range in the multimedia presentation in relation to which the communication in that communication box was composed.

4. A method according to claim 1:

wherein the first point has been selected, by a user, by selecting a first position along the length of the progress bar; and

wherein the second point has been selected, by the user, by selecting a second position along the length of the progress bar.

5. A method according to claim 4:

wherein the user interface is displayed on a touch-screen display;

wherein the selection of the first point by the user has been made by the user touching the first position along the length of the progress bar on the touch-screen display; and

wherein the selection of the second point by the user has been made by the user touching the second position along the length of the progress bar on the touch-screen display.

6. A method according to claim 1 further comprising:

displaying, for each displayed communication, a date and time at which that communication was composed.

7. A method according to claim 1:

wherein the user interface is displayed on a display of an end-user device; and

wherein the end-user device is arranged to;

receive a selection, by a user of the end-user device, of the first point;

receive a selection, by the user of the end-user device, of the second point; and

select from a group of one or more communications, those communications that have been composed in relation to points or ranges within the multimedia presentation that are between points in the multimedia presentation that correspond to the first point and the second point.

8. A method according to claim 1:

wherein each of the communications comprise one or more content items;

wherein each content item is selected from a group of content items consisting of media items, multimedia items, references to media items, and references to multimedia items; and

wherein each content item has been selected depending on at least part of the communication and content information relating to content of the multimedia presentation.

9. A user interface comprising:

a progress bar, a length of the progress bar being representative of a duration of a multimedia presentation, a point along the length of the progress bar corresponding to a point within the multimedia presentation;

a first point along the length of the progress bar, the first point being distinct from an end of the progress bar, the first point being different from a second point;

the second point along the length of the progress bar; and

information dependent on one or more communications;

wherein each communication has been composed in relation to a respective point or range within the multimedia presentation; and

wherein the points or ranges within the multimedia presentation that the communications have been composed in relation to are between points in the multimedia presentation that correspond to the first point and the second point.

10. A user interface according to claim 9 wherein the displayed information is information selected from a group consisting of:

one or more of the communications, a summary of one or more of the communications, and a summary of the portion of the multimedia presentation that is between the first point and the second point, the summary being dependent on one or more of the communications.

11. A user interface according to claim 9:

wherein each communication is displayed in a respective communication box;

wherein each communication box comprises a respective marker; and

wherein the progress bar and the communication boxes are displayed such that, for each communication box, the marker of that communication box is in alignment with a particular position along the length of the progress bar, the particular position corresponding to the point or range in the multimedia presentation in relation to which the communication in that communication box was composed.

12. A user interface according to claim 9:

wherein the first point has been selected by a user by selecting a first position along the length of the progress bar; and

wherein the second point has been selected by the user by selecting a second position along the length of the progress bar.

13. A user interface according to claim 12:

wherein the user interface is displayed on a touch-screen display;

wherein the selection of the first point by the user has been made by the user touching the first position along the length of the progress bar on the touch-screen display; and

wherein the selection of the second point by the user has been made by the user touching the second position along the length of the progress bar on the touch-screen display.

14. A user interface according to claim 9 wherein, for each displayed communication, a date and time at which that communication was composed is displayed.

15. A user interface according to claim 9:

wherein each of the communications comprise one or more content items;

wherein each content item is selected from a group of;

content items consisting of media items, multimedia items, references to media items, and references to multimedia items; and

wherein each content item has been selected depending on at least part of the communication and content information relating to content of the multimedia presentation.

16. A method of processing one or more communications, each communication having been composed by an originator, each communication having been composed in relation to a point or range within a multimedia presentation, the method comprising:

displaying, on a user interface, a progress bar, a length of the progress bar being representative of a duration of the multimedia presentation, a point along the length of the progress bar corresponding to a point within the multimedia presentation;

receiving, by a first receiving module, a selection of a first point along the length of the progress bar, the first point being distinct from an end of the progress bar;

receiving, by a second receiving module, a selection of a second point along the length of the progress bar, the second point being different from the first point;

selecting from a group comprising one or more communications, by a selection module operatively connected to the receiving modules, those communications that have been composed in relation to points or ranges within the multimedia presentation that are between points in the multimedia presentation that correspond to the first point and the second point;

processing, by a processor operatively connected to the selection module, the selected communications to determine information dependent upon those selected communications; and

displaying, on the user interface, the determined information.

17. Apparatus for processing one or more communications, each communication having been composed by an originator, each communication having been composed in relation to a point or range within a multimedia presentation, the apparatus comprising:

a display configured to display a progress bar, a length of the progress bar being representative of a duration of the multimedia presentation, a point along the length of the progress bar corresponding to a point within the multimedia presentation;

a first receiving module configured to receive a selection of a first point along the length of the progress bar, the first point being distinct from an end of the progress bar;

a second receiving module configured to receive a selection of a second point along the length of the progress bar, the second point being different from the first point;

a selection module operatively connected to the receiving modules and configured to select from a group comprising one or more communications, those communications that have been composed in relation to points or ranges within the multimedia presentation that are between points in the multimedia presentation that correspond to the first point and the second point; and

a processor operatively connected to the selection module and configured to process the selected communications to determine information dependent upon those selected communications;

wherein the display is further configured to display the determined information.