Systems and methods for determining playback locations in media files

• US 9,182,940 B1
• Filed: 12/10/2013
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Long, Xi, Chen, Hong, Darmawan, Rudy
• Primary Examiner(s): Titcomb, William
• Application Number:
  US14/101,686
• Time in Patent Office: 700 Days
• Field of Search: 715/716
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/638 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/685 using automatically derived transcript of audio data, e.g. lyrics speech recognition G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/16 Sound input; Sound output speech processing G10L
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path

Abstract

According to one or more embodiments, a method is provided. The method may include receiving an indication to pause playback of a media file at a current location in the media file. The method may also include receiving an indication to resume playback of the media file. Furthermore, the method may include determining an elapsed time between the indication to pause playback and the indication to resume playback. Furthermore, the method may include determining, based at least in part on the current location and the elapsed time, a second location in the media file that occurs before the current location. Further still, the method may include resuming playback of the media file at the second location.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a user device comprising one or more processors, an indication to pause playback of an audio book at a current location in the audio book;

pausing playback of the audio book at the current location;

receiving an indication to resume playback of the audio book;

determining an elapsed time between the indication to pause playback and the indication to resume playback;

accessing text structure information associated with the audio book;

determining, based at least in part on the text structure information, the current location, and the elapsed time, a second location in the audio book that occurs before the current location, wherein a distance between the second location and the current location increases as the elapsed time increases, and wherein the second location is associated with a beginning of a sentence in the audio book; and

resuming playback of the audio book at the second location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second location is further associated with a beginning of a paragraph in the audio book when the elapsed time is greater than a first threshold.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second location is further associated with a beginning of a chapter in the audio book when the elapsed time is greater than a second threshold, wherein the second threshold is greater than the first threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the current location is associated with a current sentence at which playback of the audio book was paused, and

determining the second location comprises determining a number of sentences before the current sentence.

5. A system, comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory storing computer-executable instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to;

receive an indication to pause playback of a media file at a first location in the media file;

pause playback of the media file at the first location;

receive an indication to resume playback of the media file;

determine an elapsed time between the indication to pause playback and the indication to resume playback;

determine, based at least in part on the elapsed time, a second location in the media file, wherein the second location occurs prior to the first location; and

resume playback of the media file at the second location.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

determine the second location based at least in part on a previous pause location or a previous resume location.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

access text structure information associated with the media file, wherein the media file is an audio book and the text structure information indicates one or more sections of the audio book.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the computer-executable instructions to determine the second location further comprise instructions to:

determine, based at least in part on the elapsed time exceeding a threshold, that the second location is to be associated with a beginning of a section, of the one or more sections, in the audio book.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the section comprises at least one of a sentence, a paragraph, a chapter, a scene, or a topic.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the computer-executable instructions to determine the second location further comprise instructions to:

determine, from the one or more sections, a first section associated with the first location at which playback of the audio book was paused; and

determine, based at least in part on the elapsed time, to resume playback of the audio book at a number of sections prior to the current section.

11. The system of claim 5, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

generate, in response to a voice instruction from a user, a bookmark identifier associated with a third location in the media file.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

generate a corresponding bookmark identifier for an electronic book associated with the media file, the corresponding bookmark identifier associated with a location in the electronic book that corresponds to the third location in the media file.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

receive an indication to pause playback of a media file at a first location in the media file;

pause playback of the media file at the first location;

receive an indication to resume playback of the media file;

determine an elapsed time between the indication to pause playback and the indication to resume playback;

determine, based at least in part on the elapsed time, a second location in the media file that occurs before the first location; and

resume playback of the media file at the second location.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

determine the second location based at least in part on one or more past resume locations input by the user.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

access text structure information associated with the media file, wherein the media file is an audio book and the text structure information indicates one or more sections of the audio book.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions to determine the second location further comprise instructions to:

determine, based at least in part on the elapsed time exceeding a threshold, that the second location is to be associated with a beginning of a respective section, of the one or more sections, in the audio book.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the respective section comprises at least one of a sentence, a paragraph, a chapter, a scene, or a topic.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions to determine the second location further comprise instructions to:

determine, from the one or more sections, a first section associated with the first location at which playback of the audio book was paused; and

determine, based at least in part on the elapsed time, to resume playback of the audio book at a predetermined number of sections prior to the first section.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

generate, in response to a voice instruction from a user, a bookmark identifier associated with a third location in the media file.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

generate a corresponding bookmark identifier for an electronic book associated with the media file, the corresponding bookmark identifier associated with a location in the electronic book that corresponds to the third location in the media file.