Media content user interface systems and methods

• US 8,683,349 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2010
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Roberts, Brian F., Hwang, Sok Y., Aldrey, Raul I., Relyea, Donald H., Frazier, Kristopher T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): POHLMAN, JAMES GREGORY
• Application Number:
  US12/983,064
• Publication Number:
  US 20120173991A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,180 Days
• Field of Search: 715/747
• US Class Current: 715/747
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Exemplary media content user interface systems and methods are disclosed herein. An exemplary method includes a media content access subsystem displaying a plurality of display elements topographically distributed throughout a graphical representation of a virtual world in accordance with one or more distribution heuristics, detecting a user interaction, and dynamically adjusting the topographical distribution of the one or more display elements in accordance with the user interaction. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying, by a media content access subsystem by way of a graphical user interface, a plurality of display elements topographically distributed throughout a graphical representation of a virtual world in accordance with one or more distribution heuristics, wherein each of the plurality of display elements is representative of one of a plurality of media content instances, and wherein the topographical distribution of the plurality of display elements forms one or more topographical features within the virtual world;

detecting, by the media content access subsystem, a user interaction; and

dynamically adjusting, by the media content access subsystem, the topographical distribution of the plurality of display elements to update a graphical representation of a virtual probe that automatically discovers and graphically attracts one or more of the plurality of display elements from the graphical representation of the virtual world in accordance with one or more conditions specified by the user interaction.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more topographical features comprise at least one of a natural topographical feature and a man-made topographical feature.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more topographical features comprise at least one of one or more mountains, one or more buildings, and one or more landmasses.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual world comprises one or more areas, wherein the one or more distribution heuristics are configured to govern which display elements within the plurality of display elements are included in each of the one or more areas.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each topographical feature within the one or more topographical features is formed by one or more groups of display elements from the plurality of display elements.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein each topographical feature within the one or more topographical features is associated with at least one of the one or more distribution heuristics configured to govern which display elements within the plurality of display elements are included in the one or more groups of display elements that form the topographical feature.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more distribution heuristics are configured to govern a position of each display element within the plurality of display elements within the virtual world.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the topographical distribution of the plurality of display elements comprises a selective positioning of each display element within the plurality of display elements such that the plurality of display elements collectively form the one or more topographical features.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each distribution heuristic within the one or more distribution heuristics specifies one or more distribution conditions configured to govern the topographical distribution of one or more of the plurality of display elements.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual world is at least partially three-dimensional.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual world is user navigable by way of the graphical user interface.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content access subsystem comprises a tablet computer including a touch screen.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more distribution heuristics comprise at least one of a predefined distribution heuristic, a user-defined distribution heuristic, and a self-learning distribution heuristic.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interaction is associated with at least one of the graphical user interface, a particular media content instance within the plurality of media content instances, an input device associated with the media content access subsystem, a particular display element within the plurality of display elements, a social media contact, and the media content access subsystem.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, by the media content access subsystem by way of the graphical user interface, a personalized viewing interface in conjunction with the virtual world.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, by the media content access subsystem, one or more selectable options associated with at least one of a particular media content instance within the plurality of media content instances and a particular display element within the plurality of display elements,

wherein the one or more selectable options comprise at least one of an option to present the particular media content instance, an option to access information associated with the particular media content instance, an option to rate the particular media content instance, an option to place the particular media content instance in a queue, an option to schedule a recording of the particular media content instance, an option to access enhanced content associated with the particular media content instance, and an option to move the particular display element.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamically adjusting the topographical distribution comprises repositioning a particular display element within the graphical representation of the virtual world.

18. The method of claim 1, embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamically adjusting the topographical distribution comprises forming the graphical representation of the virtual probe at least partially from the one or more of the plurality of display elements graphically attracted from the graphical representation of the virtual world such that the graphical representation of the virtual probe has an appearance similar to a moon hovering over a surface of the graphical representation of the virtual world.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interaction comprises a keyword search performed by a user.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamically adjusting of the topographical distribution comprises moving the graphical representation of the virtual probe throughout the graphical representation of the virtual world to graphically attract the one or more of the plurality of display elements that represent one or more of the plurality of media content instances that satisfy the one or more conditions specified by the user interaction.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual probe is at least partially made up of the one or more of the plurality of display elements.

19. A method comprising:

displaying, by a media content access subsystem by way of a graphical user interface, a graphical representation of a three-dimensional virtual world;

displaying, by the media content access subsystem by way of the graphical user interface, a plurality of display elements topographically distributed throughout the virtual world in accordance with one or more distribution heuristics, wherein the plurality of display elements are representative of a plurality of media content instances, wherein the topographical distribution of the plurality of display elements forms one or more topographical features within the virtual world, and wherein the one or more distribution heuristics are configured to facilitate discovery by a user of at least one media content instance within the plurality of media content instances in a personalized manner; and

updating, by the media content access subsystem by way of the graphical user interface, a graphical representation of a virtual probe that automatically discovers and graphically attracts one or more of the plurality of display elements from the virtual world in accordance with one or more specified conditions.

20. The method of claim 19, embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

21. A system comprising:

a display facility configured to display, by way of a graphical user interface, a plurality of display elements topographically distributed throughout a graphical representation of a virtual world in accordance with one or more distribution heuristics, wherein each of the plurality of display elements is representative of one of a plurality of media content instances, and wherein the topographical distribution of the plurality of display elements forms one or more topographical features within the virtual world;

a detection facility communicatively coupled to the display facility and configured to detect a user interaction; and

a distribution facility communicatively coupled to the detection facility and configured to dynamically adjust the topographical distribution of the plurality of display elements to update a graphical representation of a virtual probe that automatically discovers and graphically attracts one or more of the plurality of display elements from the graphical representation of the virtual world in accordance with one or more conditions specified by the user interaction.