Expert answer platform methods, apparatuses and media

• US 9,735,973 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2015
• Issued: 08/15/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vidoyen, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Vidoyen, Inc.
• Inventors: Tabrizi, Arshia, Jarema, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Paulinho E
• Application Number:
  US14/967,713
• Publication Number:
  US 20160112212A1
• Time in Patent Office: 610 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/738 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/02 Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission

Abstract

A request to join a live AMA session that is already in progress may be obtained from an AMA participant. Automatic playback of video recordings of an expert'"'"'s answers to questions that have already been answered by the expert may be facilitated for the AMA participant. A current question that is currently being answered by the expert may be determined. A current question visualization that informs the AMA participant that an answer to the current question is currently being recorded by the expert may be generated. A video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question may be obtained and automatic playback of the video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question may be facilitated for the AMA participant.

Claims

1. An answer providing apparatus, comprising:

a memory;

a processor in communication with the memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to;

a) obtain, via processor, from an AMA participant, a request to join a live AMA session that is already in progress;

b) determine, via processor, a question associated with the live AMA session that has already been answered by an expert associated with the AMA session and which should be presented for the AMA participant next;

c) facilitate, via processor, automatic playback of a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the question for the AMA participant;

d) repeat b) and c) until the AMA participant catches up to the live AMA session;

e) determine, via processor, a current question that is currently being answered by the expert;

f) facilitate, via processor, generating a current question visualization, wherein the current question visualization informs the AMA participant that an answer to the current question is currently being recorded by the expert;

g) obtain, via processor, a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question; and

h) facilitate, via processor, automatic playback of the video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question for the AMA participant.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further issues instructions to:

retrieve a prerecorded video introduction of the expert; and

facilitate automatic playback of the prerecorded video introduction prior to facilitating automatic playback of a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the first question which should be presented for the AMA participant.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein instructions to determine a question which should be presented for the AMA participant next further comprise instructions to:

determine the order in which video recordings of the expert'"'"'s answers have been obtained from the expert; and

select the question which should be presented for the AMA participant next in accordance with the determined order.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein instructions to select the question which should be presented for the AMA participant next further comprise instructions to:

select a question in accordance with the determined order;

determine that the AMA participant previously viewed a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the question;

select a subsequent question in accordance with the determined order;

determine that the AMA participant did not previously view a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the subsequent question; and

select the subsequent question as the question which should be presented for the AMA participant next.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein instructions to repeat b) and c) until the AMA participant catches up to the live AMA session further comprise instructions to:

pause repeating b) and c) while the AMA participant is commenting on a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to a question; and

resume repeating b) and c) when the AMA participant manually starts playback of a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to a subsequent question.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the current question visualization includes a discussion component that is separate from discussion components associated with other questions.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein instructions to obtain a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question further comprise instructions to:

identify media items related to the current question for the expert;

obtain a selection from the expert of a media item from the identified media items; and

embed the selected media item into the video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein instructions to facilitate automatic playback of the video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question further comprise instructions to facilitate automatic playback of the embedded media item.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the expert is one of a plurality of experts participating in the live AMA session.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further issues instructions to facilitate alerting the AMA participant that the current question has been answered.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein instructions to facilitate alerting the AMA participant that the current question has been answered further comprise instructions to change an icon associated with the current question to show that the current question has been answered.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further issues instructions to facilitate automatic real time sharing of the video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question with the expert'"'"'s social network.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further issues instructions to facilitate sharing of the video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question with the AMA participant'"'"'s social network.

14. An answer providing processor-readable non-transitory physical medium storing processor-issuable instructions to:

a) obtain, via processor, from an AMA participant, a request to join a live AMA session that is already in progress;

b) determine, via processor, a question associated with the live AMA session that has already been answered by an expert associated with the AMA session and which should be presented for the AMA participant next;

c) facilitate, via processor, automatic playback of a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the question for the AMA participant;

d) repeat b) and c) until the AMA participant catches up to the live AMA session;

e) determine, via processor, a current question that is currently being answered by the expert;

f) facilitate, via processor, generating a current question visualization, wherein the current question visualization informs the AMA participant that an answer to the current question is currently being recorded by the expert;

g) obtain, via processor, a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question; and

h) facilitate, via processor, automatic playback of the video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question for the AMA participant.

15. A processor-implemented answer providing method, comprising executing instructions to:

a) obtain, via processor, from an AMA participant, a request to join a live AMA session that is already in progress;

b) determine, via processor, a question associated with the live AMA session that has already been answered by an expert associated with the AMA session and which should be presented for the AMA participant next;

c) facilitate, via processor, automatic playback of a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the question for the AMA participant;

d) repeat b) and c) until the AMA participant catches up to the live AMA session;

e) determine, via processor, a current question that is currently being answered by the expert;

f) facilitate, via processor, generating a current question visualization, wherein the current question visualization informs the AMA participant that an answer to the current question is currently being recorded by the expert;

g) obtain, via processor, a video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question; and

h) facilitate, via processor, automatic playback of the video recording of the expert'"'"'s answer to the current question for the AMA participant.