Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/466—Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies
  • H04N21/4668—Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies for recommending content, e.g. movies
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/431—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/442—Monitoring of processes or resources, e.g. detecting the failure of a recording device, monitoring the downstream bandwidth, the number of times a movie has been viewed, the storage space available from the internal hard disk
  • H04N21/44213—Monitoring of end-user related data
  • H04N21/44222—Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04H—BROADCAST COMMUNICATION
  • H04H60/00—Arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linking to broadcast information or broadcast space-time; Broadcast-related systems
  • H04H60/35—Arrangements for identifying or recognising characteristics with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time, e.g. for identifying broadcast stations or for identifying users
  • H04H60/46—Arrangements for identifying or recognising characteristics with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time, e.g. for identifying broadcast stations or for identifying users for recognising users' preferences
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/431—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
  • H04N21/4312—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/4508—Management of client data or end-user data
  • H04N21/4532—Management of client data or end-user data involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/482—End-user interface for program selection
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
  • H04N21/84—Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors

Definitions

• the invention relates to an Electronic Program Guide (“EPG") that also recommends programming to a user.
• EPG Electronic Program Guide
• EP 774866 shows an example of an EPG, in which a record is made of what programs have been viewed in order to help in making recommendations of similar programs with respect to future viewing.
• This object is achieved by providing an indication that a piece of content has already been viewed. This indication is provided as an alert to the viewer, rather than as a tool in choosing future programs to recommend.
• an episode I.D. is used to assist in the flagging process.
• Fig. 1 shows a system on which an EPG in accordance with the invention could operate.
• Fig. 2 is a flowchart relating to update of a profile.
• Fig. 3 is a flowchart relating to operation of a recommender. IV. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
• program may relate to a single contiguous group of content of any type such as video, audio, or multimedia content, no matter what the vehicle of communication or distribution, such as TV or internet.
• program as used herein would include an episode or part of an episode and is to be distinguished from a series of programs, such as "Star Trek” or “Seinfeld” or “The Late Movie”.
• show will be used synonymously with “program” herein.
• the marking of a program as watched as used herein is not the same as recording the fact that a viewer likes some series in general. The marking of a program as watched will not apply to the whole series, only to a particular piece of content.
• EPG will refer to an electronic guide to any type of "program” as that term is used herein.
• FIG. 1 shows a system on which an EPG in accordance with the invention may operate.
• the system includes a display 101, a processor 102, a memory 103, a keyboard 104, a remote 105, and a network connection 106.
• the display may be any conventional display, such as a TV or computer monitor, and may be constructed from flat panel, CRT, or any other technology.
• the processor 102 may be disposed within a same housing as the display 101 , or external, and may be a general purpose processor such as would be found in a PC, or any other processor.
• the processor 102 may be coupled to the display 101 via a network connection.
• the processor 102 may cause the display 101 to exhibit a graphical user interface ("GUI") or any other type of interface.
• GUI graphical user interface
• the memory 103 may be of any type, such as magnetic, electronic, or optical, and may be disposed within the same housing as the display 101 and or the processor 102.
• the memory may be coupled to the processor 102 via a network connection.
• There may be additional user input devices such as a mouse, joystick, or trackball.
• the user input devices, including 104 and 105 may alternatively be connected directly to the processor 102.
• the system of Fig. 1 may be a television set, with or without facilities for connection to the internet.
• the system of Fig. 1 may be a PC.
• Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of a procedure for updating a user profile. This flowchart shows certain steps relevant to the invention. However, one of ordinary skill in the art may devise many other steps involved in updating a profile, not relevant to the invention, which are not shown here for brevity.
• This history retains data about programs a user has watched.
• a show enters the view history. This could happen either because the viewer has browsed though the show, or because the viewer has watched the show, or because the show has been recommended by the recommender, or because a user is entering data manually into the recommender.
• the user profile is distinct from the view history in that the history is raw data, while the profile will have undergone some processing. For instance, the profile may have cumulative data.
• features relating to the show are added to the profile with a positive indication. If the show has not been viewed, features relating to the show will be added to the profile with a negative indication.
• Fig. 3 shows a flowchart relating to operation of a recommender.
• the recommender operates on all shows during a given period.
• At 301 it is tested whether any further shows need a recommendation. If so, at 302 a recommendation relating to that show is computed.
• At 303 it is tested whether the episode ID of this show matches any in the profile. If so, the show is flagged as previously viewed at 304, then another show is retrieved for recommendation.
• the show is added to the EPG.
• the shows will be displayed in a grid or table like format with time of day along one axis and channel number along another axis, and each show will occupy a rectangle in the grid or table. Nevertheless, those of ordinary skill in the art may devise any number of other ways of displaying the EPG.
• Recommendations relating to the show may be shown in color or numerical codes on a grid.
• the numerical codes may be in the form of percentages, with 100% being the highest possible recommendation.
• the indication of the fact that a show has been watched can also be a color or numerical code.
• the recommendations might be presented as a list of shows in order of desirability, with flags next to shows that have already been viewed. A show that has already been viewed might still be recommended if it fits well into the user's profile. Some users desire to experience the same content more than once, while other users do not. For instance, a show might be color coded as green, indicating a strong recommendation, with some shading bars or stippling overlaid to indicate that the show has already been watched.
• color coding as used herein shall include various types of shading, such as bars and stippling.
• the recommendations may be presented on the display, printed out, broadcast on a loudspeaker, or communicated in any other suitable way.

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=24467129

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

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• 2001
  • 2001-07-04 JP JP2002513200A patent/JP2004504775A/ja active Pending
  • 2001-07-04 KR KR1020027003316A patent/KR20020031187A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2001-07-04 EP EP01951651A patent/EP1303983A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2001-07-04 CN CN01802008A patent/CN1386368A/zh active Pending
  • 2001-07-04 WO PCT/EP2001/007677 patent/WO2002007433A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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