Methods and systems for displaying videos with overlays and tags

• US 8,392,821 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2007
• Issued: 03/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Viddler Incorporated
• Inventors: DeMarco, Donna L., Sandie, Robert A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hutton, Jr., Doug
• Assistant Examiner(s): Smith, Benjamin
• Application Number:
  US11/724,987
• Publication Number:
  US 20070260677A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,181 Days
• Field of Search: 715/208, 715230-233, 715201-205
• US Class Current: 715/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02

Abstract

In a system and method for displaying a video and an overlay or tag, an application that runs through a browser on a client is used to send a request from the client to a server over a computer network. In response to the request, at least the following is sent from the server to the client: a first uniform resource locator (URL) corresponding to a location on the network where the video is stored, a second URL corresponding to a location on the network where the overlay or tag is stored, and playlist data. The first and second URLs are associated with different servers on the computer network. The first and second URLs and the playlist data are used at the client to retrieve the video and the overlay or tag, and build a playlist. The client merges the video and the overlay into an integrated media sequence that is played to a user via the browser in accordance with the playlist, and displays the tag. The user is automatically linked to content associated with the overlay or tag when the user clicks on a representation of the overlay or tag displayed on the browser.

Claims

1. A method for displaying a video with an overlay, comprising:

using an application that runs through a browser on a client to send a request from the client to a server over a computer network;

in response to the request, sending at least the following from the server to the client;

at least a first uniform resource locator (URL) corresponding to a location on the network where the video is stored, at least a second URL corresponding to a location on the network where the overlay is stored, and play list data that includes at least sequence information for playing each segment of the video, timing information indicating when to display the overlay during playing of the video, and location information indicating a coordinate within the video for displaying the overlay;

wherein the first and second URLs are associated with different servers on the computer network;

using at least the first and second URLs at the client to retrieve the video and the overlay;

using the play list data at the client to build a play list and merging the video and the overlay into an integrated media sequence at the client in real-time, and playing the integrated media sequence to a user via the application that runs through the browser in accordance with the play list; and

automatically linking the user to content associated with the overlay during the playing of the media sequence when the user clicks on a representation of the overlay displayed on the browser,

wherein the overlay comprises a video overlay, an audio overlay or a text overlay.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the play list data sent from the server to the client includes references to a plurality of different overlays associated with a single video, wherein content associated with each of the different overlays is stored at a different URL in the network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the content associated with the overlay, is stored at a third URL on the network, wherein the first, second and third URLs are associated with different servers on the computer network.

4. A method for displaying a video and a tag associated with the video, comprising:

using an application that runs through a browser on a client to send a request from the client to a server over a computer network;

wherein the server is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL) on the computer network;

in response to the request, sending at least the following from the server to the client;

at least a second uniform resource locator (URL) corresponding to a location on the network where the video is stored, one or more tags associated with the video, and play list data that includes at least sequence information for playing each segment of the video, and time-bar coordinate information indicating a spatial location on a time bar where each of the one or more tags should be visually linked;

wherein the first and second URLs are associated with different websites on the computer network;

using at least the second URL at the client to retrieve the video;

using the play list data at the client to build a play list at the client, and play the video and merge the one or more tags visually linked to the time bar in real-time, wherein the video is played and the one or more tags are displayed to a user via the application that runs through the browser in accordance with the play list; and

automatically linking the user to content associated with each of the one or more tags when the user clicks on a representation of a tag displayed on the browser,

wherein each of the one or more tags comprises a video tag, an audio tag or a text tag.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the play list data sent from the server to the client includes references to a plurality of different tags associated with a single video.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the content associated with at least one of the tags is stored on the server, and includes one or more frames of the single video.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the content associated with at least one of the tags is stored at a third URL on the network, wherein the first, second and third URLs are associated with different servers on the computer network.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the one or more tags corresponds to a comment about the video.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the one or more tags corresponds to a time interval in the video.

10. A system for displaying a video with an overlay, comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium including a program and a computer executable program code, the system comprising:

a client computer with a software application that runs through a browser and sends a request from the client to a server over a computer network;

said server including software that, in response to the request, sends at least the following from the server to the client;

at least a first uniform resource locator (URL) corresponding to a location on the network where the video is stored, at least a second URL corresponding to a location on the network where the overlay is stored, and play list data that includes at least sequence information for playing each segment of the video, timing information indicating when to display the overlay during playing of the video, and location information indicating a coordinate within the video for displaying the overlay;

wherein the first and second URLs are associated with different servers on the computer network;

a controller on the client computer that uses at least the first and second URLs and the play list data at the client to retrieve the video and the overlay and build a play list at the client, and merging the video and the overlay into an integrated media sequence in real-time;

a player on the client computer that plays the integrated media sequence to a user via the browser in accordance with the play list; and

wherein the integrated media sequence includes a link that automatically directs the user to content associated with the overlay during the playing of the media sequence when the user clicks on a representation of the overlay displayed on the browser,

wherein the overlay comprises a video overlay, an audio overlay or a text overlay.

11. A system for displaying a video and a tag associated with the video, comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium including a program and a computer executable program code, the system comprising:

a client computer using a software application that runs through a browser on the client, and sends a request from the client to a server over a computer network;

wherein the server is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL) on the computer network;

said server including software that, in response to the request, sends at least the following from the server to the client;

at least a second uniform resource locator (URL) corresponding to a location on the network where the video is stored, one or more tags associated with the video, and play list data that includes at least sequence information for playing each segment of the video, and time-bar coordinate information indicating a spatial location on a time bar where each of the one or more tags should be visually linked;

wherein the first and second URLs are associated with different websites on the computer network;

a controller on the client computer that uses at least the second URL at the client to retrieve the video and the one or more tags, and that uses the play list data to build a play list at the client;

a player on the client computer, responsive to the play list, that plays the video and merges the one or more tags visually linked to the time bar in real-time, wherein the video is played and the one or more tags are displayed to a user via the application that runs through the browser; and

wherein each of the one or more tags includes a link that automatically directs the user to content associated with each of the one or more tags when the user clicks on a representation of a tag displayed on the browser,

wherein each of the one or more tags comprises a video tag, an audio tag or a text tag.