ES2695249A1 - Multimedia content discovery method and system for devices that can play multimedia content - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method comprising the following steps: a) a server (3) obtains, from a multimedia content catalogue (2), each item of multimedia content stored in the multimedia content catalogue (2) together with metadata identifying each stored multimedia content item, in which the multimedia contents stored in the multimedia content catalogue (2) come from the same or different content sources; b) a similarity calculation unit (4) establishes a similarity between different multimedia content items based on at least the metadata identifying each multimedia content item; and c) the server (3) uses the similarity established between the different multimedia content items in order to play, on a graphical interface of a device (1) that can play multimedia content, information relating to one or more multimedia content items similar to multimedia content that the device (1) is playing at a given moment.

Description

d e s c r ip c io n

Method and system for multimedia content discovery for devices capable of displaying multimedia content

Field of the technique

The present invention relates in general to methods and systems for providing multimedia content. In particular, the present invention concerns a method and a system for automatic discovery of multimedia content particularly useful for devices capable of displaying multimedia content such as videos from the functions of mini-guide and / or zapping.

By multimedia content will be understood any type of visual information that can be displayed on a device (TV, Smartphone, Tablet, etc.) static or dynamic.

Background of the invention

From the patent application EP-A2-2348724 a method for providing an electronic program guide (EPG) in an apparatus for receiving and decoding digital television signals is known. The method comprises providing a screen of the electronic program guide with at least two windows, wherein the first of the windows shows a guide in the form of a grid of time and the channel comprising a plurality of cells in which program listings are displayed. of TV; and provide a cursor to select between the first and second window and to navigate within each of them. The second window shows video on demand (VoD). When selecting one or another window, the cursor highlights the marked window and provides the necessary means to activate the multimedia content shown in the aforementioned window. That is, in this patent application a traditional electronic program guide (EPG) is combined with a list of VoD content, but keeping each one in different windows. The EPG can also show catch-up content , but there are no relationships between the contents that are shown to the user.

From US-B2-8732763 a system and a method for a user interface for displaying VoD multimedia content organized by broadcast schedules are provided. In fact, in this patent an EPG is provided where multimedia content is mixed in live ( live) and VoD. The VoD multimedia content shown in the EPG is not related to the user's own usage data. Also, in this patent, to show the VoD multimedia content, multimedia content features are not used apart from their broadcast time. The user interface is exclusive for mobile devices.

US-B2-7793319 discloses system and methods for navigating through multiple channels of multimedia content to locate programs that are executing programs of interest. This patent improves the zapping through the channels using only programs of interest and detecting the advertising intervals. Does not include different sources of multimedia content to live channels.

On the other hand, in the products currently on the market, most of the devices have different menus or applications for different content sources (that is, the user has a specific application for YouTube®, another for Netflix®, another for Fox® , etc.). That implies the following usability problems:

- Effort in accessing content: In the previous products, users generally do not access the menus of the Smart TV or the set-top box or television receiver (in English Set-Top Box (STB)) due to the effort involved to TV users. Also, due to the relaxation behavior and low effort of TV users, they are not aware of the multimedia content offered by their SmartTVs or STBs and because of this, they have the feeling that there is nothing for them in the television or in the video service they are using. For these reasons, reaching multimedia content through explicit navigation menus is not efficient for users since, in the best case, a minimum of 4 or 5 beats must be made to start playing multimedia content . The same problem is reproduced in SmartTV, where each TV service involves using a different application, with a different interface. Yes, the user has access to YouTube®, Netflix® and other services, but each content source is handled differently.

- Lack of integration of the different sources of content: Currently, both SmartTVs and regular STBs allow to find some video content using some type of search engine. The problem is that this search is usually specific to the application that is being used to consume the multimedia content. Only AppleTV® in its current version allows you to do a search in several of the video services it supports (iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, etc.) and only using the search function, which still requires an explicit effort on the part of the user to actively locate a multimedia content.

- Lack of integration with the habitual behavior of the user: Once in front of the television, users usually use the zapping to discover multimedia contents through the channel up and down buttons. However, this behavior only allows to go through television channels in the order in which they are configured on the television. This mechanism causes that in the end most of the users restrict their searches to the 10 channels that they usually see, because they also associate a certain type of multimedia content to each channel. This means that content that could be interesting for them is often lost because they are broadcast on channels that they do not usually see.

- The automatic recommendation systems need a clear profile of the user:

Currently, some companies offer automatic recommendation systems based on the user's profile. For these systems to work well, they require the user to take some time using the service in order to use this data for recommendations. These systems also require that the user be identified for the service, using their user account. This identification is simple in a mobile application, a website or an application for SmartTV, but it is not usable in a shared television, since it would imply that each user of said television will enter their identification every time they are going to use it. Also, it could be the case that the children of the family are recommended violent content because they have not entered their identifier.

Additionally, these systems are not integrated in a transparent way with the users' standard browsing patterns (zapping), so although they are more relaxed than an active search pattern, they still require additional cognitive effort.

Exposition of the invention

According to a first aspect, the present invention contributes to solving the drawbacks of known solutions by providing a method for multimedia content discovery for devices capable of displaying multimedia content. The proposed method comprises:

a) obtain, by a server, a catalog of multimedia contents, information of each of a multimedia content stored in said catalog of contents multimedia together with metadata identifying each stored multimedia content;

b) establishing, by a unit of similarity calculation, a similarity between different multimedia contents obtained in stage a) based on at least said metadata identifying each multimedia content obtained in stage a); Y

c) use, by said server, said similarity between the different multimedia contents to display, in a graphical interface such as an EPG of a device capable of displaying multimedia content, information relating to one or more multimedia contents (either free multimedia content or payment) similar to a multimedia content that said device is showing at a certain moment.

According to the invention, the multimedia content stored in the catalog of multimedia content may come from different or equal sources of content including television channels, catalogs of videos on demand, internet sites, personal videos of a user available on devices accessible from the server and / or social networks (for example Facebook®, Twitter®, Instagram®, etc.).

Likewise, the metadata may include: title of the multimedia content, type of multimedia content (film, series, documentary, etc.) and description of it (entertainment, comedy, drama, action, etc.), a representative image of the multimedia content, genre and / or subgenre of the multimedia content, director and / or actors of the multimedia content (mainly for series, films and / or documentaries), duration (for example for multimedia content on demand) and / or start time and / or finalization (mainly for TV shows).

In a realization example, the proposed method also comprises the use, by a sorting unit, of the similarity established in step b) and of a multimedia content consumption data of the device to generate a list of multimedia content particularized for said device, for a specific time slot and the day of the week in which the device is being used, and the subsequent sample of the aforementioned one or more similar multimedia contents based on the list of particularized multimedia content.

The aforementioned multimedia content consumption data is sent by the device to the server, where they are processed and added and later sent to the sorting unit where they are stored. This data consumption of multimedia content preferably they include information relating to one or more multimedia contents consumed by the device and to the date and time of consumption of the multimedia content.

In a preferred embodiment, the similarity calculation unit assigns different weights to each of the metadata used to establish the similarity between the different multimedia contents, where said weights depend on the type of multimedia content and are configurable in the server. Although, alternatively, the unit of similarity calculation could also assign equal weights to each of the metadata used.

According to the present invention, the obtaining of the multimedia content by the server (step a) can be done periodically every certain period of time (for example, during the valley hours of consumption of the service), or in real time, each time a change in the catalog of multimedia contents.

In an example of embodiment, the information relating to one or more multimedia contents similar to a multimedia content that said device is showing at a certain moment is shown in the graphic interface of the device when a user makes a request to change the channel in the device . Likewise, said information can be displayed in the graphical interface when the user makes a request for specific information of the multimedia content displayed on the device or even when making a displacement through the graphic interface itself.

In still other embodiments, said relative information may be displayed when programming a recording or upon completion of the broadcast of the multimedia content displayed on the device.

According to a second aspect, the present invention also provides a system for multimedia content discovery for devices capable of displaying multimedia content, comprising:

- a device capable of displaying multimedia content;

- a server configured and adapted to establish a connection with said device, with a catalog of multimedia contents and with a unit of similarity calculation through at least one communication network;

- said catalog of multimedia contents stores multimedia contents together with metadata identifying each stored multimedia content; Y

- said similarity calculation unit that includes one or more processors and at least one memory, said calculation unit being similar to the server remotely or being included in the same server.

Unlike the proposals known in the state of the art, in the proposed system, the multimedia content stored in the catalog of multimedia contents comes from different or equal sources of content, and the system is adapted and configured to implement the method of the first aspect of the invention.

In a realization example, the system also includes a sorting unit that includes one or more processors, said remote sorting unit being the server or being included in the same server and being configured and adapted to use the similarity established in step b ) and data consumption of multimedia content of the device to generate a list of multimedia content particularized for said device, for a specific time slot, and the day of the week in which the device is being used.

The server may include a database and / or memory to store each of the multimedia contents obtained and their corresponding identification metadata together with a content identifier.

Other embodiments of the invention disclosed herein also include computer program products for performing the steps and operations of the method proposed in the first aspect of the invention. More particularly, a computer program product is an embodiment having a computer-readable medium that includes computer program instructions encoded therein which, when executed in at least one processor of a computer system, produce the processor perform the operations indicated in the present document as embodiments of the invention.

Therefore, the present invention provides a new technology for multimedia content discovery for devices capable of displaying videos (Set Top Boxes, TVs connected to the Internet, Smartphones, Tablets, web browsers, game consoles, etc.), agnostic to the source of the content multimedia.

The invention bases its principles on the zapping mechanism, which is the most used by users to navigate the channels of their televisions, and the information shown by the EPG of programming. This component always appears when the user makes a channel change or presses a specific button on his remote control (usually "Info" or "OK"). The EPG is in charge of showing the user information about the multimedia content in broadcast or future multimedia contents within a selected channel. The EPG component receives all the information of the multimedia contents that will be broadcasted in a channel through the satellite, the TV antenna or, in OTT services, through access to internet APIs that provide this information and allow users the to be able to evaluate the present and future multimedia contents of the TV channels.

Through these features, users are able to find attractive multimedia content more quickly, with fewer presses on the buttons of the remote control or interactions with other management interfaces.

On the other hand, the use of pre-calculated recommendations based solely on similarity between multimedia content allows the user to present a list of different multimedia content for each multimedia content quickly and reduces the problems of the recommendation systems based on consumption data. of the user, such as cold start (cold start) for new or weak users.

In addition, the possibility of mixing multimedia content from different content sources exponentially increases the variety of the catalog available to the user, being much more flexible than other video services with different interfaces for each content source.

Finally, these two advantages of the mixture of content sources and the availability of similarity between multimedia content based on the user's metadata, join to offer one more advantage: the possibility of creating virtual channels mixing live multimedia content (live ), for example television programs or football / basketball / tennis matches, etc., and VoD, without the need to plan a grid from scratch.

The present invention is also highly extensible, with improvements such as the use of navigation patterns to complement the similarity of multimedia contents or create micro-profiles for finer degree personalization.

Brief description of the drawings

The above and other characteristics and advantages will be more fully understood starting of the following detailed description of some examples of realization, merely illustrative and not limiting, with reference to the drawings that accompany it, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates schematically the components that can be part of a system for multimedia content discovery for devices capable of displaying multimedia content according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the operation and interaction of a method for multimedia content discovery for devices capable of displaying multimedia content according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3a illustrates a schematic example of the device where a certain multimedia content is being shown in a given television channel, and where a graphic interface provides information of the multimedia contents offered in other television channels, information of the television channel and of the aforementioned multimedia content that is being shown at that moment, and information of the next multimedia content that will be shown on said television channel. Also, Fig. 3b shows in the graphic interface one or more multimedia contents similar to the multimedia content that said device is showing at said determined moment.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart of the operation and interaction of the flow followed by the present invention to request multimedia contents similar to one given according to embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed description of an example of realization

Fig. 1 shows an example of a preferred embodiment of the proposed system for identifying multimedia content for devices capable of displaying multimedia content. According to this preferred embodiment, the proposed system includes a device 1 capable of displaying multimedia content, a server 3, a multimedia content catalog 2, a similarity calculation unit 4 and a sorting unit 5.

Said server 3 is configured and adapted to establish a connection with the device 1, with a multimedia content catalog 2 and with a similarity calculation unit 4 through at least one communication network, for example the Internet.

The catalog of multimedia contents 2 stores multimedia contents together with metadata identifying each stored multimedia content.

The multimedia content stored in the catalog of multimedia contents 2 may come from different or equal sources of content including television channels, catalogs of videos on demand, internet sites, personal videos of a user available on devices accessible from server 3 and / or social networks. Regarding the identification metadata, for an optimal functioning, the catalog of multimedia contents includes at least: title, type of content (film, series, documentary, etc.), director, actors, description, representative image, start time and end time (for TV shows). However, the present invention can work (with a somewhat less efficient behavior) with smaller sets of metadata. Additionally, the owner of the service, that is, the owner of a television service that offers a series of television channels (for example Telefonica), may also include other data such as prices, subscription required by the multimedia content and / or other variables. necessary for the proper functioning of the service.

The similarity calculation unit 4 includes one or more processors and at least one memory and is adapted and configured to establish a similarity between different multimedia contents obtained by the server 3 based on the identifying metadata of each multimedia content. This similarity calculation unit 4 can be remote to the server 3 and be operatively connectable to the latter, or it can be a unit of the server 3 itself.

Finally, the ordering unit includes one or more processors and is configured and adapted to use the similarity established by the similarity calculation unit 4 and consumption data of the device 1 to generate a list of multimedia content particularized to the device 1, the time slot, and the day of the week in which the device 1 is being used. Like the similarity calculation unit 4, this sorting unit can be remote to the server 3 and be operatively connectable to the latter, or it can be be a unit of the server itself 3. Also, it should be noted that the use of the management unit 5 is optional in the proposed system, ie, other embodiments of the invention may not incorporate into this unit.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown an example of preferred embodiment of the proposed method for identifying multimedia content for devices capable of displaying multimedia content. Server 3 accesses the catalog of multimedia contents 2, either periodically or only when there is a change in the catalog of multimedia contents 2, to obtain the information of the multimedia contents available (as indicated above, these may come from various content sources) including their metadata. The server 3 preferably stores in a local database (or in a memory) the entire list of multimedia content, so that each multimedia content will be characterized by an identifier, the link to the multimedia content and the metadata that characterize it (trtulo). , director, type of content, actors, genre, sub-genre, a representative image, etc.).

Next, each acquired multimedia content and its metadata are sent to the similarity calculation unit 4 so that it applies a series of comparison criteria between the multimedia contents that it is receiving based on the metadata. The comparison criteria applied may depend on the type of multimedia content detected.

In an example of realization, the aforementioned comparison criteria include: for movies (title, genre, director and actors); for children's multimedia content (title, gender and optional director), additionally, for children's multimedia content it could be limited to the reception of multimedia content of the same type only; for television programs and / or for series (title, type, gender and description), optionally you could also include the start and end date. In any case, each type of multimedia content has associated metadata based on which the similarities are established, it is not exclusive so that said metadata does not apply to other types of multimedia contents, since the example of previous realization is simply a possible accomplishment, neither exhaustive nor limitative.

Additionally, a series of weights can be assigned to each of the metadata used to optimize the similarity, so that the importance of the fields increases or decreases when calculating that similarity. These weights can vary by type of multimedia content, and are calculable emptrnca way through an analysis of multimedia content use or establishing a canonical set of similarities through a documentary work. A representative example is shown in the following tables.

Table 1. Weights for Movies

Table 2. Weights for Children

Table 3. Weights for TV Shows

Table 4. Weights for Series

After processing the metadata of each multimedia content, the similarity calculation unit 4 stores in its database (or memory) that multimedia contents are similar to a given one. These similarities are calculated independently of the type of multimedia content, using the metadata associated with each multimedia content transversely. In any case, it is important to note that:

- From a peKcula it is possible to obtain multimedia contents that are similar but belong to other types. A Star Wars movie can be similar to a Star Wars documentary or a Star Wars series.

- The similarities are pre-calculated so that it is faster to show them on device 1.

- Each time a new multimedia content is received from server 3 (which was not previously processed), the similarities are reprocessed (refresh of the similarities), since it can be more similar to one given that those that already existed in the base of data of the unit of similarity calculation 4. This process happens at the same moment in which the server 3 goes through the catalog of multimedia contents 2: if the content already existed previously, nothing is done, but if it is new, the new similarity calculation.

There are several algorithms capable of calculating the similarity between multimedia content based on identifying metadata. A representative and preferred example of the present invention is the family of information retrieval algorithms based on the Vector Space Model (VSM) concept with weighting by the TF-IDF ( Term Frequency - Inverse Document Frequency) technique . However, the present invention is capable of working with any algorithm that is capable of producing a similarity metric between arbitrary pairs of contents, for example Collaborative Filtering algorithms , generative models (LDA), models based on neural networks (type word2vec), models based on measures of semantic similarity, etc.

Additionally, according to this preferred embodiment, the sorting unit 5 stores the previously calculated similarity data and uses the consumption data of the device 1 to provide a complementary and particularized similarity metric based on Collaborative Filtering techniques, which deduces similarity between multimedia content based on usage patterns. This metric does not need metadata but user data, so it can be a good complement to the main metric.

According to the present invention, on the side of the device 1, the operation of the proposed method is similar to that of a conventional television. Once the device 1 is turned on, the user will find a specific television channel broadcasting a certain multimedia content 301 (see Figs 3a and 3b). This television channel can be a conventional broadcast channel (such as those received on a satellite television) or, alternatively, it can be a dynamic channel formed by a sequence of videos taken from a VoD catalog, chained one after the other. Regarding the information regarding multimedia content similar to a given one, this can be a list of multimedia contents recommended by the owner of the service, or simply a list of multimedia contents of the same type or genre. Also, if there is sufficient consumption data of the device 1, the list of multimedia contents may comprise multimedia content similar to things that the user has recently seen (using the content consumption data that will be stored in the sorting unit 5), using the same similarity criteria mentioned above. This dynamic channel will be referred to below as "virtual channel".

In any case, the user will be viewing a content on the device 1. In case you request a channel change (use the buttons on your remote control or the icons on your touch screen), what will happen is that it will effectively change channel: can be the next real channel if the service has this type of content or can be the next virtual channel.

The virtual channels will be created by the owner of the offered service: they can be by type of program (movie, series, documentary and children's channels), themes (movies from the 80's), etc. The owner of the service will have a tool where metadata can be assigned to virtual channels in such a way that the content list uses this metadata to find similar contents through the similarity calculation unit 4. For example, the owner of the service wants to create a virtual channel of Science Fiction without the need to plan a programming grid from scratch. Using this tool to create virtual channels, I would simply choose as a label to build the similarities "Genre: Science Fiction", the invention would get all the multimedia content available (whether series, movies or documentaries) that include this data to build the list of contents multimedia that would compose this virtual channel.

The present invention allows real and virtual channels to be mixed in such a way that they are fully integrated in the user experience and zapping can be used even if they are contained on demand coming from the internet.

As in any conventional television service, the lower part of the screen of the device 1 will be occupied by an electronic program guide (EPG) or miniguide, that is to say a graphic interface of the device 1 that shows information about the current program and on the future multimedia contents of said channel ordered consecutively by date or time of emission. In the case of virtual channels, the arrangement of multimedia content may be given by the owner of the service, adjusting to their particular requirements and needs or by the degree of similarity of the multimedia content with the specified criteria (ie, the multimedia contents more similar would be placed closer to the multimedia content reproducing at that moment 301). However, the present invention adds another element to the EPG (or advanced mini-guide as it will be referred to below) that helps to discover multimedia content more quickly and that in a particular embodiment is represented in Fig. 3a, non-limiting since the Distribution of the different data in the advanced mini-guide could be displayed in different positions and in different ways.

According to this particular embodiment, the data shown in the advanced mini-guide is:

- In a column located to the left of the device 1, limiting with a side edge of a screen of the device 1, a list of multimedia contents 305 (that is to say of the programs) that are being displayed at a certain moment in television channels different from the television channel that is showing the multimedia content 301 (for example a movie). The novelty is that this list is kept on screen when the user is doing zapping and that allows you to see in advance what multimedia content is being broadcast on each channel.

In a row below said column and bordering a lower edge of the screen of the device 1, information 302 of the television channel that is broadcasting the multimedia content 301 (said film) is provided, for example from the image and logo of the channel (from the catalog of multimedia contents 2).

- In a central part 303 of said row, information of the multimedia content 301 is displayed (shows information of the movie). In this central part 303 the advanced mini-guide can display an image of the multimedia content 301, the title of the multimedia content 301, the genre, the progress bar and the control buttons that can trigger some action on the multimedia content 301 (such as recording it or save it in favorites). In case the device 1 has a tactile interface, instead of the control buttons, icons that can be activated will be shown.

- In a right part 304 of said row, information of the following multimedia content (for example an entertainment program) that will be broadcast on that channel is displayed. TV. This right part 304 may also display the image of the multimedia content that will be broadcast below, although obscured so that it is distinguished from the image of the current multimedia content 301.

In the case of VoD multimedia content, there will be no progress bar, since any multimedia content can be viewed at any time (since they are multimedia content on demand). The logo of the virtual channel created from this type of multimedia content will be that provided by the owner of the service when creating the channel.

In a conventional EPG, the user could move to future programs and see their information, save reminders, record them, etc. The present invention uses this behavior to integrate the discovery of multimedia content from other sources of content in the advanced mini-guide. Therefore, when the user moves through the advanced mini-guide, for example to the right, what would appear would be somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 3b. As illustrated in the figure, relative information is shown, for example in a list 400, of one or more multimedia contents semantically related to the one that is currently being viewed (multimedia content 301), so that users have a quick indication of intuitive of the degree of interest they can have for them. This list 400 offers multimedia content from various content sources (for example, a film that is broadcasting on another channel at that time, something that will be broadcast that night, a multimedia content of paid VoD, free VoD multimedia content, content multimedia coming from the Internet, etc.). Preferably, according to the invention, similar multimedia contents are ordered by similarity to the reference content (the one that is being viewed at that particular moment 301), so that navigating the list 400 intuitively supposes to move away in relation to said content reference 301. The flow to request multimedia contents similar to a given one is shown in Fig. 4.

As seen in Fig. 4, when the device 1 requests a list 400 of multimedia contents similar to that currently on screen 301, a petition is sent to server 3 to return the list 400, which, optionally, can be ordered by the Device 1 consumption (depending on the realization example used). When the list 400 is received from the sorting unit 5, it is filtered if necessary to see the multimedia contents that are available at that moment, since it is possible to choose only multimedia contents currently in broadcast, only live contents, etc. . In Fig. 4 it it also shows the sending of consumption data to server 3 (for its aggregation if necessary) and to the management unit 5, a flow that would not exist if the latter were dispensed with.

In the case of operation with the remote control of device 1, the channel up and down buttons will continue executing that same function. If the user uses the arrow buttons on the remote, they can scroll through similar multimedia content and select them using the OK or equivalent button. If the user has permission to view the multimedia content, he / she will be able to see it (change to that channel, start playing it, etc.), while if he can not see it, a detail file will appear with the information about the content multimedia and the actions that the service allows on it (rent it, record it, save it in a list of favorites, etc.). If OK is pressed on the multimedia contents of television channels that are not broadcasting at that moment (past or future multimedia content), the tab with the details will also appear, as in a conventional EPG. However, since the present invention is agnostic to the source of the multimedia content, if the service is integrated with multimedia content of catch-up (content previously broadcast on conventional television channels), pressing OK could play multimedia content of this type .

The list 400 of similar multimedia contents can also appear when the user moves to future multimedia contents, showing in this case those that most resemble the one shown at that point of the advanced mini-game.

Once one of the multimedia contents of the 400 list of similar multimedia contents is selected, the advanced mini-list is updated with the corresponding information. If the multimedia content is a VoD, the advanced minigatia will present the information as if it were a virtual channel, based on multimedia contents from that virtual channel (if the multimedia content belongs to one) or in those available at the source of content from where the multimedia content comes from.

As already indicated above, the list 400 of similar multimedia contents shown in the previous point, can be ordered by the ordering unit 5, once this unit begins to receive information, automatically, about the consumption of the device 1. The present invention does not require the user to identify himself with credentials in order to receive this personalized information. The consumption data is associated with a device identifier 1, a time slot and the day of the week. This "profiling indirect "helps to achieve additional sorting criteria (in addition to the primary of similarity between multimedia contents) that are perceived as valid by the user and minimizes the possibility of displaying unsuitable multimedia contents in the first positions for that user or for that user. Day and hour.

This mechanism of "indirect profiling", together with the fact that the multimedia contents of Infantil, only show other similar multimedia contents of Children, allowing to avoid situations such as those that occur with habitual recommendation systems where an adult receives recommendations for children only because their children have been using the service intensely during the weekend, that is, it is a mechanism equivalent to the creation of micro-profiles for users, in a hierarchical way, integrating spatio-temporal usage patterns (by device and by strip) recurrent time).

The present invention, in another embodiment example, also presents an anti spoiler mechanism for series. That is to say, if the multimedia content that is being viewed is a series, in the list 400 of related multimedia contents a "series" element will be shown depending on the similarity, as usual. But the specific chapter of that series that is shown, will meet the following criteria:

1. Chapter 1 of the first season is recommended, prioritizing VoD over series in channels.

2. If in the traditional channels are broadcasting a certain chapter of a series, in the 400 list of multimedia contents similar to that chapter will be shown again episode 1 of season 1, in case the user wants to see the series from the beginning .

3. Only one chapter of each series is shown in list 400.

4. If the user had consumed all the seasons and available chapters associated with each season of a catalog on demand (eg, it started in season 1-episode 1 and the last available season was 12 of season 3), and there would be a chapter of that series on a traditional channel, but from three seasons onwards (eg on the channel they are broadcasting episode 4 of season 6) the user will be shown on the 400 list of similar multimedia content, but when selected, it will be will show you a notice (auditory and / or visual) superimposed so that you are aware that seeing it could mean the revelation of important details (warning antispoiler).

5. As in point 2 if in a channel they were casting episode 3 of season 1 and VoD is available from season 2 onwards, in the list 400 of similar multimedia contents would be shown episode 1 of season 2 but warning the user of that jump in history.

6. If the user started watching a series of weekly broadcast from the first episode of the first season and some chapter of the successive weeks is lost and a more advanced episode is shown as related multimedia content, the jump will be notified as well. Additionally, it will be verified if the chapter that has been lost is available as multimedia content on demand and it will be shown as similar multimedia content.

7. Preferably, for the comedy series, which have a duration of less than 35 minutes, these rules do not apply since it is considered that, at a general level, they are series from which the user could see loose chapters without affecting in a drastic manner. to the enjoyment of history.

The proposed invention can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions can be stored in or encoded as one or more instructions or code in a computer-readable medium.

The computer-readable medium includes a computer storage medium. The storage medium can be any available means that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable medium may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other means that can used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a computer. Disk (disk) and disk (disc), as used in this document, include compact discs (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where discs ( disks) normally reproduce data in a magnetic form, while discs (discs) reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable medium. Any processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. As an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

As used herein, computer program products that comprise computer-readable media include all forms of computer-readable media except, to the extent that that medium is considered to be non-established transient propagation signals.

The scope of the present invention is defined in the appended claims.

Claims (15)

Method for discovering multimedia content for devices capable of displaying multimedia content, characterized in that it comprises: a) obtaining, by a server (3), a catalog of multimedia contents (2), information of each one of some multimedia contents stored in said catalog of multimedia contents (2) together with metadata identifying each stored multimedia content, wherein the multimedia content stored in the catalog of multimedia contents (2) comes from different or equal sources of content including television channels, catalogs of videos on demand, internet sites, personal videos of a user available on devices accessible from the server (3) and / or social networks; b) establishing, by a unit of similarity calculation (4), a similarity between different multimedia contents obtained in stage a) based on at least said identifying metadata of each multimedia content obtained in stage a); Y c) use, by said server (3), said similarity established between the different multimedia contents to display, in a graphical interface of a device (1) capable of displaying multimedia content, information relating to one or more multimedia content similar to a content multimedia that said device (1) is showing at a certain moment. Method according to claim 1, wherein the metadata includes the content of the multimedia content, the type of multimedia content and description thereof, a representative image of the multimedia content, genre and / or subgenre of the multimedia content, director and / or actors of the content multimedia, and / or start time and / or end time. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising: - using, by a sorting unit (5), the similarity established in step b) and a consumption data of multimedia content of the device (1) to generate a list of multimedia content particularized for said device (1), for a specific time slot and the day of the week in which the device is being used (1); Y - displaying said one or more similar multimedia contents based on said list of particularized multimedia content. Method according to claim 3, wherein the multimedia content consumption data of the device (1) used by the management unit (5) include information relating to one or more multimedia contents consumed by said device (1) and to the date and time of consumption of the multimedia content. Method according to claim 1, which comprises assigning, by the unit of similarity calculation (4), equal or different weights to each of the metadata used to establish the similarity between the different multimedia contents, where said weights depend on the type of multimedia content. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein prior to the realization of step b), the server (3) stores in a database and / or memory each of the multimedia contents obtained and their corresponding identification metadata together with a content identifier. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein step a) is carried out periodically every certain period of time. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein stage a) is carried out in real time, each time a change occurs in the catalog of multimedia contents (2). Method according to claim 1, wherein in said step c), the information relating to one or more multimedia contents similar to a multimedia content that said device (1) is showing at a certain moment is shown in the graphic interface of the device (1) when: - a user makes a request to change the channel in the device (1) and / or a request for specific information of the multimedia content displayed in the device (1) and / or a displacement through the graphic interface of the device (1) ; or - when programming a recording; or - at the end of the broadcasting of the multimedia content shown in the device (1) at said determined moment. Method according to claim 1 or 9, wherein said one or more similar multimedia contents comprise free multimedia content and / or paid multimedia content. 11. System for multimedia content discovery for devices capable of displaying multimedia content, comprising: - a device (1) capable of displaying multimedia content; - a server (3) configured and adapted to establish a connection with said device (1), with a multimedia content catalog (2) and with a similarity calculation unit (4) through at least one communication network; - said catalog of multimedia contents (2) stores multimedia contents together with metadata identifying each stored multimedia content; Y - said similarity calculation unit (4) that includes one or more processors and at least one memory, said calculation unit being similar in similarity (4) to the server (3) or being included in the same server (3), the system being characterized in that: - the multimedia content stored in the catalog of multimedia content (2) comes from different or equal sources of content including television channels, catalogs of videos on demand, internet sites, personal videos of a user available on devices accessible from the server (3) and / or social networks; and in that - the system implements the method according to claim 1 by means of said server (3) with respect to steps a) and c) and by said similarity calculating unit (4) with respect to step b). 12. System according to claim 11, wherein the metadata includes the content of the multimedia content, type of multimedia content and description thereof, a representative image of the multimedia content, genre and / or subgenre of the multimedia content, director and / or actors of the content multimedia, and / or start time and / or end time. 13. System according to claim 11, further comprising a sorting unit (5) that includes one or more processors, said sorting unit (5) being remote to the server (3) or being included in the same server (3) and being configured and adapted to use the similarity established in step b) and data consumption of multimedia content of the device (1) to generate a list of multimedia content particularized for said device (1), for a specific time slot, and to day of the week in which the device is being used (1). 14. System according to claim 11 or 13, wherein the server (3) includes a database and / or memory to store each of the multimedia contents obtained and their corresponding identification metadata together with a content identifier. 15. Computer program product that includes code instructions that when implemented in at least one processor include: - obtain, from a catalog of multimedia contents (2), information of each one of multimedia contents stored in said catalog of multimedia contents (2) together with metadata identifying each stored multimedia content, wherein the multimedia content stored in the catalog of multimedia content (2) comes from different or equal sources of content including television channels, catalogs of videos on demand, internet sites, personal videos of a user available on devices accessible from a server (3) and / or networks social; Y c) use an established similarity between different multimedia contents obtained in step a) based on at least said identifying metadata of each multimedia content obtained in step a), to show, in a graphical interface of a device (1) capable of display multimedia content, information relating to one or more multimedia contents similar to a multimedia content that said device (1) is showing at a certain moment.