AT516413A1 - System and method for operating a community application with media-based e-commerce functionality - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling a media-based community application comprising e-commerce functionality. The community application includes a player that plays content in the form of an audio file, a video, or a live stream, a content management component that associates products or services with content played on the player, and information about those products or services the communication component, an e-commerce component that allows the products or services to be acquired, a community management component, for managing and linking users, and for processing user inputs of the communication component, a communication component that receives the input from users and submit it to the community management component, wherein the user input includes at least the gift of evaluating the content played in the player or the products or services associated with the content.

Description

description

The invention relates to a community application with a media-based e-commerce application.

A media-based e-commerce application is an application that allows users of a shared network, in particular the Internet, to access content in the form of audio files, videos or live streams and to purchase products or services found in such content. A community application is an application that groups users into a community and provides the ability to manage members and content.

US2011 / 0106662 A1 shows an application for performing live online shopping events in which the seller and one or more buyers can interact directly or communicate to complete a sale. The buyers are represented in a virtual meeting room by their avatar and can interact with each other through chat or symbolic language. The disadvantage is that the live interaction with the seller is associated with a considerable amount of time for the seller and thus the selling times are limited, or many sellers are needed to reach many buyers. Another disadvantage is the character of a "sales show", since only buyers are reached who are already interested in the product and thus spontaneous, emotional purchases are not forced. Another disadvantage is the complexity and complexity of the interface.

Simple systems that lead to spontaneous emotional purchases are well-known in the field of in-video shopping, where a video player is combined with an e-commerce component to acquire the products advertised in the video through the e-commerce component to be able to.

US 2009/0276805 A1 shows an interactive video player in which the products shown in the video can be clicked as hotspots in the video to get more information about the product. This information, as well as an e-commerce component, are located in an area next to the player's window in order to purchase the products shown without interrupting the video. A disadvantage is the text-based communication of the application with the user, as well as that there is no possibility for the user to give detailed and easy feedback. Another disadvantage is the poor or non-existent management and networking of users and use of user input.

WO 2013/033239 A1 shows an application in the form of a container for viral distribution to several different endpoints. The endpoints are especially blogs, social networking sites or emails. The container contains a player for playing a video and an e-commerce component that can be used from the endpoint. The disadvantage is that foreign structures are used virally, so that the operator of the container software has no control over the endpoint and thus has no way of managing and networking users, as well as the use of user input, which does not directly affect the container application. Another disadvantage is the text-based communication of the application with the user, and that there is no possibility for the user to provide detailed and easy feedback.

A disadvantage of the prior art, firstly, the complicated or not universally applicable use of voice or text-based communication applications of e-commerce systems has been found.

The second drawback is the lack of user-friendliness, difficult data collection and data management of e-commerce applications, which does not make full use of the benefits for users and providers of products and services, especially with regard to the collection and assignment of data and user input to the media Content and the products and services offered.

The object underlying the invention is, on the one hand, to permit intuitive use of the application and thus to eliminate user-specific language barriers and, on the other hand, to create added value for the members of the community by sharing the application. For solving the problem, it is first proposed to facilitate communication of the user with the application through the implementation of an avatar, wherein the user can input operator commands to the avatar, which

Emotions, interjections or gestures, these emotional operating commands also serving to control the application. Second, to solve the problem, it is proposed to integrate the media-based e-commerce application into a community application.

The community application according to the invention comprises, for example, the following components: a player for playing content in the form of audio files, videos or live streams, a community management component for managing

Users, user structures, groups and

Group structures and user input, - a content management component to associate information, products or services with the content played on the player, as well as to associate user feedback to the content, products or services, - an e-commerce component, which it allows to purchase the products or services, - a communication component for the collection and processing of user input.

Said communication component preferably comprises an avatar whose emotions and gestures are influenceable by the user, the emotions and gestures

Control commands are translated into or translated into such, whereby said control commands control the e-commerce component and the content played on the player or the products or services associated with the content are evaluated, the communication component evaluating the content, products or services as well as the transactions carried out by the e-commerce component are captured and sent to the community management component, which processes, stores, makes available to other users, or processes data

Control commands back to the communication component sends. The communication component includes an interface through which the user can control the player and the functions of the community application that are relevant or intended for the user, as well as transactions with the e-commerce component. The interface is preferably a browser window, which is divided into at least two subareas. The interface includes a sub-area in which the contents of the player are played and a sub-area in which the avatar is shown and in which the products or services are shown and in which the e-commerce component is executed, in this subarea or own Sections, including recommended content, related content, feedback, and ratings.

It is envisaged that the player as well as the communication component and the e-commerce component will be executed locally on the user's data processing system, for example by being stored locally, or as a browser application when a web page is accessed. The contents played in the player are preferably stored at an external storage location, in particular on a server or in the cloud, and are retrieved during playback by the player from the respective storage location. The contents played in the player preferably have an emotional context and are not promotional videos, or sales broadcasts, therefore, the subject matter of the content is not a product but the content itself, for example, a music title, a music video, or a cultural or sporting event in which the products or services may be placed through product placement, or the content itself may be part of the product of, for example, a musical album.

During or before the content is played, the content management component loads and transmits to the communication component information, products or services associated with the content being played (or category of content), the specific selection and ranking of the user Products or services to be displayed are determined from the data of the community management component.

Data on the associated products or services is transmitted by the e-commerce component to one or more e-commerce applications, whereupon the e-commerce applications transmit data such as, in particular, available product variants, price and stock to the e-commerce component.

The user may enter control commands to the e-commerce component through the communications application that establishes a data connection to the e-commerce applications to make transactions with the e-commerce application. The community application collects input from the user, processes it and stores it with a reference to the content, product or service to which the input relates. The e-commerce application can be operated on the same server, or by the same provider as the subject community application, or be part of the community application according to the invention, but this is preferably an external or independent application.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the community application groups users with similar interests into groups, or the community application is designed for one user group, such a community of members with similar interests may, for example, be the fan community of an artist or a sports team be. The community application preferably adapts its appearance to the respective user group. Preferably, the appearance of the avatar, as well as its emotions, interjections and gestures are adapted to the user group. The avatar's appearance preferably includes facial features, clothing, hair, status symbols, body art, and gesture. The avatar is preferably a simplified 2D representation of a human being in the style of a cartoon character. Also 3D avatars are conceivable. A user is preferably represented in different groups by different avatars, whereby also the status of the user in the groups is different. The status of a user within a group is influenced by its activity in the group, or by the activity of other users in the group. For example, the status of the user changes with the number or type of feedback given, content viewed, transactions completed, or feedback received. The status of a user is preferably represented by its avatar by receiving status icons. These status symbols are preferably adapted to the respective group and in particular can be illustrated graphically as badges or body art (for example tattoos) on the avatar.

Examples of the common interest of users of a group are genre, artist, sport, athlete, occupation, recreational activity, hobby, passion for collecting, family status, pet.

For example, the common interest of users is a music group. The layout of the user interface and the avatar is adapted to the music style or the specific design or branding of the music group. Users, community application administrators, or music group members can provide content such as livestreams, video, or audio files to the community, and identify products or services associated with their content. The contents are presented to the community members for example in the form of a list with display of the title and / or a graphical representation, wherein the contents are preferably ranked. Criteria of ranking may be novelty, user feedback, number or turnover of transactions made during the player. The user can select from this list a content, for example a video, which he wants to see next, or the contents are played in a predetermined order, for example, the track list of an album or concert.

The video selected or selected by the user plays in the player. The Community Application identifies the products or services associated with the video, such as albums, DVDs, fan merchandise, concert tickets, or travel events, and adds them to the product according to specific criteria such as novelty, user feedback, number, or revenue of transactions. For example, these products are presented as a list of title, illustration, and any other information such as ratings or user feedback in a portion of the browser window that is independent of the player so that the video shown in the player does not need to be interrupted at any time. The video will not be interrupted when giving feedback, doing transactions, controlling the avatar, interacting with the community application, and so on.

Since the area for displaying the products or services is limited, they can also be displayed one after the other so that they are displayed to the user consecutively for a defined time according to certain ranking criteria generated from the data of the community application. During playback of the content, the user may, by control commands to the avatar, rate the content or sequences of the content, for example, individual songs of a concert, as well as rate the displayed products or services.

Preferably, the user moves the mouse pointer or, with a touch screen, the finger over the window of the avatar and can appear in the window of the avatar, or in a drop-down menu (for example, this appears when the cursor is moved over the head or body of the avatar) icon (emoji, emoticon or interjection) and assign it to the content or to a product. The user can thus express positive or negative feelings about the content or product via the avatar. Examples of such symbols are strings such as;) :): D: P :(: o or preferably their graphic representation Examples of interjections are JEAH AHH WOW OHH YES NO BUH / BOO.

In addition, the user can control the gestures of the avatar to send control commands to the application. For example, the gestures can again be displayed as icons in a drop-down menu (for example, when the cursor is moved over the avatar's hand) or executed by clicking on the avatar's hand or arm by cursor movement itself. For example, a question mark may be selected as an icon, or the avatar's hand may be moved over his head to select further information about a content or product. Another example would be arrow symbols, or waving hand movements of the avatar to jump from one content to the next or from one product to the next.

When the avatar is displayed next to the player, its arm or hand facing the player is preferably used to control the player and its other arm or hand to control the product display and the e-commerce application.

When the emotion, interjection or gesture is selected as a symbol, the avatar can adjust the meaning of the symbol to indicate the selection to the user.

A purchase transaction via the avatar is preferably also carried out by the user making the avatar make a clear purchase gesture, for example by letting the avatar reach for an icon symbolizing the currently selected product and then leading this to the body of the avatar. If the user is logged into the community application and the user data (name, address, payment information, and possibly clothing size, etc.) of the community application is known, the unique purchase gesture may already be sufficient to actually make the purchase and the product to get from a shipping provider. Of course, there is also the possibility to ask the user to confirm the purchase, for example by nodding the avatar or shaking his head, or by selecting the YES or NO interjection. If there are variations in the product such as color, quantity, cut, etc., these can preferably also be selected via gestures of the avatar.

Another possibility would be to place the product or service in a digital shopping cart when selecting or selecting the clear purchase gesture and to be able to confirm the purchase of the products or services when selecting the basket of goods or to provide subsequent user data (address, payment information, Clothing size, product specifications such as color, number, size ...) to complete the purchase.

The shopping cart is preferably displayed as part of the e-commerce component in a part of the interface or browser window that is independent of or separate from the player and avatar.

In order to disseminate the community application, or to attract new members, it is intended that the content that can be played in the player, or offered products and services, or their own avatar on other platforms and other community applications can be placed and from there by means of a link the objective community application can be called.

For this purpose, a graphic representation of the content in the form of a preview (sequence) or a frame (or changing frames) of a video is preferably displayed on the other platform or application, which has a link to the representational community application. The Community application can then watch the entire video or use the features of the Communication and Ecommerce component.

Another possibility is that the videos are completely retrievable in an online video portal and have an interactive feature, or a link in the comment bar, with which you can switch to the current community application. The community application can also be supplemented by its own video portal, which is preferably operated on a standalone server.

Advantageously, it can be provided that the products and services can be obtained only when the community application is called or only for registered users of the community application, so that an incentive is created here to become part of the community. A similar incentive is created when the content (videos, music, livestreams) is exclusively available to members of the community.

Preferably not only the contents but also a product, a service or the avatar can be shared on another platform, homepage or in an email. In this case, a graphical representation with a stored or independent link to the representational community application is displayed again.

Membership in a community application group or a standalone community application specific to a group may be free or paid, open or closed. Open in this context means freely accessible, closed, for example by invitation only, or by belonging to a real group such as a fan club.

For fee-based groups or community applications, for example, entry fees may cover access to live events such as concerts or sporting events. Access to live events could also be free, or access to individual live events can be purchased, for example in the form of virtual tickets. Products that are usually sold to viewers in the course of the live events can thus also be purchased by viewers of the livestream via the present application. Of course, the live event can also be recorded, so that afterwards the products associated with the live event can be purchased while watching the video.

Preferably, the user can also express his personal momentary emotional state via the avatar by "emotionally charging" the avatar, so that the avatar can read the "mood". reflects the user. This can be done by the user choosing a symbol representing his state of mind and dragging and dropping it into the upper body of the avatar, or by clicking or swiping the upper body with the cursor, a drop-down menu appears to select the symbol. Such a graphic representation of many emotional symbols may be called "emotional wardrobe". be designated.

The model with "drag and drop" can also be used to assign icons to content or products, such as dragging an emoji from the avatar's window to the player and dropping it there. The community application can save user data, the emoji, the time of the content's playback and / or the coordinates in the player window when dropped with reference to the content. For example, these emojis can be recalled the next time the content is played back by another user through the community application and stored in the player at the stored time on the player

Position can be displayed, this function can preferably be turned on or off by the user, or the user or users whose emotional comments are presented in the form of emojis and / or interjections in the playback, can be selected. Alternatively, the emojis and / or interjections can be displayed next to the player or in its timeline. Out of all content emojis and interjections, one or more

Evaluations are determined, which are displayed, for example, when previewing the content. For example, the number of positive, negative and neutral emojis, or emoticons and

Interjections are displayed, or the most commonly chosen or an emotional mean. Another possibility is to associate the interjections of the soundtrack with music in a video and the emojis or emoticons of the image track or vice versa, so that the user can easily evaluate image and sound track separately and this rating can also be presented to other users. From all

User Ratings creates the community application ratings, rankings, or lists, such as hit parades, which can be presented to users. The ratings of users with higher statuses can be weighted higher.

In the subject community application, a direct communication between the users is not required, but may also be present.

According to the invention, the user is classified within the community application based on its status in a group structure. The position within the structure is preferably visible to the user and preferably also to other users, for example by this structure being able to be displayed as a list or a kind of tree structure. An icon for the status of the user, or his position or rank within the structure, is preferably also assigned to the avatar as a status symbol.

If the community application includes several independent groups, these groups can also be integrated into a structure or a ranking, independent groups can be competing groups, whereby one avatar of one group can not be a member of the other group, the user would have to have two independent ones Have avatars to be a member of both groups. The situation is different if, for example, a community has several subgroups belonging to a main group, whereby the subgroups can also ascend through their status in the structure. In the case of the model of a main group with several subgroups, the user can advantageously have an avatar member in several subgroups, whereby he can automatically become a member of the subgroup or of the respective fan community, for example by interacting with a video assigned to the subgroup.

An example of the competing model would be a community whose common interest is a sport, whereby the competing groups or fan-communities represent different clubs. Through their activity, the members of the individual clubs can help raise their club rankings and push themselves upwards within the structure of their club.

Example of a community with subgroups would be a community whose common interest is music or a musical genre, the subgroups or fan communities in this case are artists, musicians or music groups. The activity of a user in a subgroup highlights its status within that subgroup, as well as the status of the subgroup and its status in the community.

If communities or groups have leaders, they can advantageously have administrative privileges, for example, to manage the members of the group, or set rules for membership. For example, artists, artists' representatives, community managers or community leaders may preside over the group. It is also conceivable for the group to leave it to themselves, so that the most active user or the user who has earned the highest status projects the group. It would also be conceivable to design the group democratically, so that the assignment of functions within the group or important decisions are made by vote of the members.

In a preferred variant, it is provided that an unregistered user has access to the community application or all open groups of the community application. The user has the opportunity to register and create an avatar or he will automatically be created as a member of the community as soon as he makes the first purchase transaction. This is possible because the unregistered user has to enter the basic data required for the community application, in particular name, shipping address and possibly payment details when making the purchase transaction. For this basic data, the newly created member can enter further data such as gender, interests and hobbies, family status, dress size, age, appearance characteristics. Through this information, a gendermäßiger avatar can be created, where appropriate, interests, hobbies, age and appearance characteristics can be processed data technically to create an individualized avatar. This individualized avatar can appear uniform in all groups of the community, or, as described above, the appearance can be adapted to the respective group or community. Another possibility is that the user with membership in a group receives the individual appearance characteristics of the group and can optionally equip their avatar with them. If the user is a member of several groups, he can personalize his avatar with all the appearance features he has received.

In a further expansion according to the invention, it is provided that the avatar carries out animated movements which, in context with the content being played or with the respective group or fan

Community, these movements are referred to as vibrations and moves. For example, the avatar can move to the music. The vibrations or moves are particularly preferably modeled on typical movements of the respective artist or sportsman assigned to the fan community, or are related to the theme of the community, which is, for example, a musical genre or a sport. For example, a typical move can do that

Being headbanging of metal fans.

The invention is illustrated by means of drawings:

Fig. 1: shows schematically an exemplary invention

Data processing system.

Fig. 2: shows schematically a first exemplary interface of the communication component according to the invention.

3 shows schematically a second exemplary interface of the communication component according to the invention.

Fig. 4: shows schematically an exemplary interface to

Representation of the structure of the community members.

5 shows schematically the interaction structure of the users of the application according to the invention.

Fig. 6: shows schematically the components of the invention

Application.

Fig. 7: shows schematically the processes when playing a

Content in the player of the application according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows schematically an exemplary system which is suitable for the data transmission method according to the invention. The system comprises at least one user device 1 and one

Server on which the community management component is executed, which is referred to in sequence as community server 2. The system also includes any one

Memory for the content that can be played in the Player 4, this memory is called Cloud 3. The system also preferably includes at least one server for running an e-commerce application, this server is referred to as an e-commerce server in sequence.

The user device 1 is in data connection with the community server 2 and preferably also with the cloud 3 and the e-commerce server 8. Alternatively, the communication of the user device 1 with the cloud 3 and the e-commerce server 8 could take place via the community Server 2, as illustrated in Fig.l dashed lines, but this variant would mean a high computational and data transfer effort for the community server 2, especially when a plurality of users accessing content 4.

Therefore, it is preferably provided that contents 4 are stored in the cloud 3 and these can be retrieved directly from there by the user, for example from video portals or from streaming providers. The user can search and select the desired content 4 via an external application and then play it with the player of the application according to the invention, ie switch to playing the content 4 for the application according to the invention, for example by clicking on a link 4 displayed on the content. Preferably, the player of the application according to the invention is an embedded player of a video portal or of a streaming provider, the embedded player usually having control elements for controlling the reproduction of the content 4. These controls include, for example, a play, pause and stop button. After playing the content 4, the embedded player preferably displays a list or table with further contents which have a relation to the content 4 being played and can be played next. The embedded player may also be embedded in the form of a playlist, so that at the end of a content 4 the next content 4 is automatically played.

If the user selects a content 4 which is to be played in the player, information 4.1 is sent to the content 4 to the community server 2, which allows the community server 2 to identify the content 4 or its topic. If the content has already been called by other users, or if products or services have already been stored by the content management component for content, the product information 5, rating information 7 and feedback information 8 are called up by the community server 2 and transmitted to the user device 1. The user device 1 displays the content 4 in the player window and the product information 5, rating information 7 and feedback information 8 in the e-commerce shop window.

The community server 2 also sends to each product or service a link to at least one e-commerce server 8, whose operator has the product or service in the assortment, to the user device 1. The user device 1 provides a connection to the E Commerce server 8 and receives information about the product, in particular price and availability. The ranking of displayed products or services in the Ecommerce Shop window is determined by the rating information 7 of the product. The rating is calculated by the community server 2, wherein the parameters for creating the rating include at least the feedback of the user to the product and also preferably e-commerce information, which includes, for example, the number of purchases made or product sales and / or Content management component information may include what may be new in the product or a priority of the product given by the vendor of the product.

If appropriate, the rating information or the display of the products and services on the user device 1 can be modified on the basis of the information of the e-commerce server 8, for example if a product or service is not available. The information of the e-commerce server 8 is preferably transmitted from the communication component running on the user device 1 to the community server 2.

Alternatively, the community server 2 may also be in data connection with the e-commerce server 8, in which case the product information is updated regularly or as required by the community server 2, at least including the price and the availability of the product ,

In a variant according to the invention, it is provided that a server serves as community server 2 and e-commerce server 8. This is useful if the operator of the community at the same time provider of products, for example, in a very specialized community, which is geared to only one artist or club. For example, it is also possible for each group of a community according to the invention to have its own community server 2 and / or e-commerce server 8. It may also be useful that the content 4 are stored on the server of the specialized community or group, or stored in an external location such as the cloud 3 and can only be retrieved from the community server, for example in the form of music videos of the Artist to which the fan community or fan group belongs. In this case, the content 4 is streamed by the user device 1 from the community server 2, for example, to prevent the video from spreading outside the fan community or group uncontrollably. During or after playing the content 4, the user may give feedback 7.1 to the content 4, or the products or services. This feedback 7.1 is sent to the community server 2 and used by the latter to calculate the rating of the content 4 or the product or service, or added to the feedback information 8. When the user interacts with the e-commerce server 8 in the form of transactions 9, the transaction information 9.1 is collected and transmitted to the community server 2, the transaction information 9.1 being used to calculate the rating of the

Content 4 and / or the product or service.

The user feedback 7.1 and the transaction information 9.1 are also stored by the community server 2 for the user profile and a user rating is calculated from this information.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary interface of the communication component displayed on the user device 1, which comprises the functionalities of an e-commerce shop.

The interface comprises a player window 11 for displaying the content 4, or for presenting proposed selectable contents 4 before or after playing the content 4.

In addition to the player window 11, at least one further window is arranged for displaying the functions of the community application, in particular for displaying the avatar 13 and the functionalities of the e-commerce component. In addition, a logo 12 can be displayed which is used to identify the fan community or the group or a holder assigned to the content 4, such as e.g. Artist or club shows. As shown in player window 11 of FIG. 2, content 4 may be the summary or playback, or livestream, of a football match, where logo 12 represents the club that operates the fan community Products are offered for content 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the content may also be a music video or a live concert, where the logo 12 represents the artist or the band.

The displayed functionalities of the e-commerce component include product information such as preferably a product representation 14, product name 14.1 and price 14.2. In addition, the product rating 16 and the collected product feedback 17 are preferably displayed. The product rating 16 can be a numerical value that exists in the form of points and allows the creation of lists or charts. The product feedback 17 is represented by a symbolic summary of the already given feedback from the community members. For example, if the product feedback 17 is overwhelmingly positive, its icon becomes a positive emoticon such as a happy smiley, or a positive interjection such as "WOW!" or "TOP" shown. For example, to give feedback on the product, the user clicks the icon of the product feedback 17 and, in a pop-up window or pull-down menu, can choose from a variety of emojis, or emoticons or interjections, what his feelings about the product reflects.

The same principle as for the product feedback 17 and the product rating 16 can also be used for the content 4, for example by displaying the content rating and the content feedback in the same way in addition to the player window 11. It is also conceivable to represent the artist rating or artist feedback next to or on the logo 12, or the user ranking next to or on the avatar 13. The feedback on the content 4 or a product can also be expressed by the avatar 13, for example, the avatar can change his facial expression when the user clicks on a product. For example, the feedback to content 4 or a product may also be represented by the avatar's face of one or more other users who have already evaluated the content or product by displaying those avatars with the appropriate emotion next to content 4 or product.

By clicking on a buy button 15, the product can be purchased or, as symbolically represented, first placed in the shopping cart. By way of example, menu items 18 can be used to select a product category such as T-shirts, scarves, caps or tickets. Additional functions may be present in the additional printer 19, for example a button for calling up the shopping cart, the general terms and conditions of the community application, user rankings or the user profile or user data such as delivery address, payment suspension or personal information.

The user's avatar 13 is shown in simplified form in FIGS. 2 and 3, which preferably has further user information 13.1, such as the user name, the current emotional status or the mood of the user and / or a symbolic representation of the user status or a numerical ranking of the user within the community.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary window for representing the user structure within the community. For example, the user structure is in a very simple form as a list. Each user is assigned a user rating 13.3, which reflects his status within the community.

The user rating 13.3 may be a numeric value, for example, to allow a unique ranking of users without shared seats. However, the user rating 13.3 may also be a status designation or the numeric value may be displayed as such, for example, this status label, "Rookie", "Newcomer", "Insider", "Shootingstar", "Veteran", "Leader",. to describe the user's participation in the community in one word. The above terms could also be represented by symbols.

An overview list 20 shows the ranking of all users, for example with user name 13.5 and user ranking 13.3. In the detail view next to one or more selected users their avatars 13, their mood 13.2, the user ranking 13.3, a contact button 13.4 and additional user information 13.6, such as the user's opinion on the subject of the community, personal thoughts or information of the user, such as Interests and preferences, or an overview of a user's membership in different groups or fan communities.

In addition, the subject of the community is represented by the logo 12, for example, where the subject of the community is an artist.

By clicking on the logo 12, for example, a list of the groups or fan communities may appear, which may likewise have the interface of FIG. 4 and represents, for example, a sequence of the different artists. Such an interface could also be used to represent the ranking or rating of content 4 or products or services, for example, a list of available music titles or music videos of all artists, ranked by the number of transactions of the music itself or its products and services Content 4 given feedback for creating music or video charts.

In Fig. 5, the interaction possibilities of providers and users are shown schematically. The provider is, for example, a music or video artist 102, who offers his products through the subject community application. The user is a fan 105 of the video artist 102. The video artist 102 interacts with the fan 105 via the interface 103 of the communication component, whereby no direct or bidirectional communication has to take place between the video artist 102 and the fan 105.

The provider makes content 4 available to the community application by transmitting it to the community server 2 or by providing a link to the content 4 to the community server 2, or by providing information to the community server for unambiguous identification of the content. The contents 4 are, for example, video and / or audio files 101 or live streams 111 of events. With the video and / or audio files 101 or livestreams 111, the provider 102 transports emotions to the fan 105. An optional further way to convey emotion is the so-called vibrations or moves 121, which can be predetermined by the video artist 102 and movements of the fan's avatar 13 105, which it preferably executes depending on the content 4. The video artist 102 receives feedback from the user 105 or collected by the community 104 to the video and / or audio files 101 or livestreams 111 and possibly to the vibrations or moves 121 and thus receives valuable information for the marketing of his music or videos or for the improvement of his web presence.

The fan 105 interacts with the creator 102 through the provision of feedback, provided that this feedback may be given in the form of emojis or emoticons and / or interjections, which the fan 105 may select from a library 133. Each emoji or emoticon and / or interjection has a specific meaning assigned by the community application. If necessary, the meaning of the respective symbol can also be displayed to the fan 105 in the form of text should the symbol be unclear to him, for example by being able to call up further information about the symbol by means of a help function. The feedback of the fan 105 or of all the fans 105 is stored by the community application and can thus be called up by the video artist 102. The fan community 104 is the totality of all fans 105, with the fan interaction 134 of the fan 105 having an effect on its status or the status of other fans in the fan community 104.

The video artist 102 can specify via the shop filling 106, which products or services he offers. The shop filling 106 takes place via the content management component. For example, creator 102 may dictate which products to associate with which videos, or at what time of the video or live stream the products are to be displayed. The video artist 102, as basic information about the products or services, discloses a unique identification and a source of supply thereof, for example the product title and the mail order or e-commerce server 8, via which the product is obtainable. The video artist receives feedback from Fan 105 or fan community 104 about his products or services.

The fan 105 may also announce its own state of mind, for example by selecting a symbol from an emotional wardrobe 132. The selected icon is then displayed next to or on the avatar 13, or the avatar 13 adjusts its appearance to the icon. In the emotional wardrobe 132 of FIG. 6, various emojis are shown by way of example.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary structure diagram of a community application 200 according to the invention. The community application 200 comprises a content management component 201, an e-commerce component 202, a communication component 203, a rendering component 204, and a community management component 205. The content management component 201 comprises the Functions product filling 211, ie the allocation of products to content 4, content or product placement 212, ie the placement of content 4 or products on the Internet, product update 213, ie the updating of product information, or to update the product during product upgrades or product changes , Content Networking 214, so the assignment of similar content 4 to each other and to the communities to suggest this to the user, or to be able to view this via a search function.

The e-commerce component 202 comprises the functions purchase processing 221, that is to say the communication with an e-commerce server 8 in order to be able to conclude transactions, and the shipment processing 222, ie the communication with the e-commerce server 8 or the server of an additional one Shipping provider, if sold and shipped by different suppliers, to arrange for the delivery of the goods to the user.

The communication component 203 is used for communication between the application according to the invention and the user and includes, for example, the functions of the product evaluation 231 by the user, product series 232, ie the display of the products after a certain sequence, chart representation 233, that is, the display of the content 4 in FIG a certain order,

Data transmission 234 that is to say all relevant inputs of the user to the community or the market research to the community management component. The reproduction component 204 comprises the function 241 of content, as well as, in a variant according to the invention, a management function 242 of the contents 4. The management function 242 can be implemented by collecting and managing the contents 4 in a separate video database of the community in order to create a fan To establish a video portal especially for the community, instead of embedding the playback of content 4 from video portals of other providers. The fan video portal is preferably operated on its own server, which is directly connected to the player or the communication component in data connection.

Amongst others, the community management component 205 includes the functions data storage 251, that is to say the saving of the user feedbacks and user transactions, data processing 252, ie the processing of user feedback and user transactions for the generation of rankings, charts and summarized feedback, communication management So the definition and creation of communication channels between the fans among themselves and between the operators and the fans, user management 254, ie the administration of the users in particular their community memberships, personal contacts, payment and user information, appearance of the avatar or status and rights within the community.

FIG. 7 shows a process according to the invention which is intended to illustrate the sequences when playing a content 4. First, a selection 300 of the content 4 is made by the user, followed by the start 301 of the playback. The content is played back until the stop 303 of the playback, wherein the playback can be interrupted by an optional process step Pause 302. Parallel to the playback of the content 4 two further processes run namely the feedback process and the e-commerce process. The feedback process is initiated by the user making the feedback feed input 310 while the content 4 is playing, and this input may already refer to the product or content. Thereupon, in the feedback selection step 311, a list of the selectable symbols in the form of emojis or emoticons and interjections is displayed, from which the user can select at least one and optionally select whether it is to be assigned to the content 4 or to a product. For example, when executing the feedback selection 311, the video may be paused automatically or by user input, or may continue to run. If the user has selected at least one icon in the feedback sending step 312, the icon or its meaning and the context of the icon, ie information regarding the content, product, and / or time to which the icon relates and by which user it was given , transmitted to the community management component.

The second parallel process of playing the video is the e-commerce process, which starts by selecting Product Purchases 320. For example, in the Purchase Options 321 step, the user may choose between Buy Now 322 and Drop in Basket 323. For example, he may optionally choose to pause the playback. If the option Buy Now 322 is selected, the order with the e-commerce application can still be completed while the content 4 is being displayed. If the option shelf is selected in the shopping cart 323, the completion of the order 324 in the e-commerce application may occur at any time after the end of the playback. Instant buy 322, store in cart 323, and complete order 324 are sent to the community management component with the context (user of the transaction and content 4 at which the transaction was made).

Claims (16)

Claims 1. A method for controlling a community application comprising media-based e-commerce functionality, characterized in that there is a player playing content in the form of an audio file, a video or a live stream, a content management Component that associates products or services with content played on the Player and transmits information about those Products or Services to the Communications Component, an e-commerce component exists that allows transactions to be made for the purchase of the Products or Services; a community management component exists for managing and linking users and for processing user inputs of the communication component, a communication component that collects the inputs from users and transmits them to the community management component, wherein d The user input includes at least reviews of the content played in the player or the products or services associated with the content. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that said communication component comprises an avatar whose emotions or gestures are influenceable by the user, the emotions or gestures being or being translated into control commands, said control commands controlling the e-commerce Component is assessed and the content played on the player or the products or services associated with the content are evaluated, the communication component capturing the reviews of the content, products or services as well as the transactions of the e-commerce component and the community management Sends a component, which processes these data-technically and stores these processed data, makes it available to other users or sends control commands back to the communication component. 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the control of the e-commerce component via the gestures and the evaluation of the contents, products or services via the emotions of the avatar takes place. 4. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 3, characterized in that the user can influence the emotions of the avatar by the selection of emojis, emoticons or interjections. 5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the user can influence the gestures of the avatar by moving the mouse. 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of temporal sections or times of the content played in the player can be evaluated independently. 7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the feedback is given to a specific position in the player window. 8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the community management component processes the inputs and transactions of the users in terms of data and calculates therefrom the position of the user within a hierarchical structure of all users. 9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the community application during playback of a content captures, processes and stores the inputs of the users and the respective context of the user input, wherein the context of the content played in the player, a content associated with the content Product or service associated with the content. 10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the community application during the playback of a content, the transaction information of the user and the respective context of the transaction detects, processes and stores data, the context includes at least the content played in the player. 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the community application calculates a rating of the context from the collected transaction information and the user input for each context, wherein a ranking in the form of a product or service ranking, content ranking or user ranking is created depending on the context , 12. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the communication component, the e-commerce component and the player on the user device (1) are executed and the community management application and the content management application on a server the so-called community server (2) are executed. 13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that communication component is in data connection with the community server (2) to exchange information, the e-commerce component is in data communication with an e-commerce server (8), for processing transactions and the player in data connection with any memory, in particular the cloud (3) stands for streaming content (4). 14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that at or before playback of a content (4) in the player information which uniquely identify the content (4) are sent from the communication component to the community server (2), whereupon the content management component downloads or identifies products or services to be associated with the content (4), and the community management component loads or identifies ratings and feedback on the content (4) and the products and services; Service information as well as the rating and feedback information are sent to the communication component. 15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the e-commerce component transmits the product or service information, which allow a clear identification of this to at least one e-commerce server (8) on which an e-commerce Application is executed, which transmits further product information such as in particular availability and price to the e-commerce component. 16. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that the player is an embedded player of a video portal, which plays content (4) of the video portal.