Method and apparatus for presenting media programs

• US 8,387,088 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2009
• Issued: 02/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• 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): Srivastava, Vivek
• Assistant Examiner(s): MENDOZA, JUNIOR O
• Application Number:
  US12/617,979
• Publication Number:
  US 20110119725A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/37
• 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 (GUI) to a media device operating in an interactive television (iTV) 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 system including at least one processor, a media program for presentation by a plurality of end user devices;

collecting, by the system, one or more temporal actions initiated by the plurality of end user devices while the media program is presented;

creating, by the system, one or more symbolic overlays corresponding to the one or more temporal actions;

combining the presentation of the media program with a presentation of the one or more symbolic overlays; and

providing, by the system, a depiction of one or more users associated with the plurality of end user devices in a carrousel format for presentation by the plurality of end user devices with the presentation of the one or more symbolic overlays,

wherein the carrousel format presents multiple rows of carrousels to distinguish between users who are most active, users who are next most active, and users who are inactive.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media program corresponds to one of a video stream, an audio stream, a sequence of still images, a sequence of text images, or combinations thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the depiction of the one or more users comprises one of an avatar representation of each user, a live webcam image of each user, a still picture of each user, or an animation of each user, or combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more temporal actions are expressed by way of one of the avatar representation of each user, the live webcam image of each user, a still picture of each user, or an animation of each user, or combinations thereof, wherein a gesture of the avatar corresponds to a motion of a body of the avatar, and wherein the expression of the avatar comprises at least one of a plurality of expressions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrousel format presents a carrousel in one of a horizontal position, a vertical position, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein active users within the carrousel are distinguished by highlighting with color.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein active users within the carrousel are distinguished by at least one of appearing larger in size, flashing, shaking, spinning, vibrating, or combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein when a user provides comments regarding the media program, the method comprises moving the depiction representing the user who is providing comments to a more prominent position in the carrousel so as to be visible.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the depiction of the one or more users comprises iconic symbols, and wherein the method comprises manually reordering the iconic symbols representing the users by dragging and dropping a particular iconic symbol.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the depiction of the one or more users comprises iconic symbols, and wherein the method comprises automatically reordering the iconic symbols representing the users based on a measured participation of a particular user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the media program is audio-only content.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the depiction of the one or more users comprises iconic symbols, and wherein the method comprises inviting additional users onto a carrousel that is most active by clicking on the iconic symbols for the additional users.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising presenting on the one or more symbolic overlays one or more comment icons situated on a timeline.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the depiction of the one or more users comprises iconic symbols, and wherein the method comprises reducing the size of the iconic symbols to create more room in a viewing area of the carrousel format.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising a program, which responsive to being executed by a computer causes the computer to perform operations comprising:

receiving temporal actions initiated by a plurality of end user devices while presenting media content at the plurality of end user devices;

combining a presentation of the media content with a presentation of a symbolic overlay generated from the temporal actions; and

presenting a depiction of one or more users in a carrousel format of the presentation of the symbolic overlay,

wherein the carrousel format presents multiple rows of carrousels to distinguish between users who are most active, users who are next most active, and users who are inactive.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the media program is audio-only content.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the media content comprises one of video content, audio-only content, or video with no audio content.

18. A computing device, comprising:

a memory storing computer instructions; and

a controller coupled with the memory, wherein the controller, responsive to executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising;

transmitting 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,

wherein the carrousel format presents multiple rows of carrousels to distinguish between users who are most active, users who are next most active, and users who are inactive.

19. The computing device of claim 18, wherein the commentary is a user-generated commentary, wherein the carrousel format presents a carrousel in one of a horizontal position, a vertical position, or a combination thereof, and wherein the symbolic representations of one or more users comprise iconic symbols.

20. The computing device of claim 18, wherein the commentary is a user-generated commentary, and wherein the symbolic representations of one or more users comprise one of an avatar representation of each user, a live webcam image of each user, a still picture of each user, or an animation of each user, or combinations thereof.