KR20120130248A - Systems and methods for acquiring, categorizing and delivering media in interactive media guidance applications - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing guidance for Internet-delivery media are discussed. In some embodiments, information about media available on the Internet is collected. The information is associated with existing media guide data. The associations allow media guiding applications to identify relevant online media and display lists in a user-friendly manner. A user interface for the online media guide application is also provided. The user interface allows the user to narrow down the mass of Internet-delivery media in a systematic way according to the criteria of interest to the user.

Description

System and method for acquiring, categorizing, and delivering media in interactive media guiding applications

The present invention relates generally to media guidance applications, and in particular to providing guidance for media obtained from the Internet.

This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 60 / 849,988, filed October 6, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The Internet is a resource for acquiring entertainment media and information that continues to be popular. There are an enormous number of resources on the Internet that provide various types of media, such as downloadable television episodes and movies, or streaming television previews and movie trailers. Moreover, almost all media and related information on the Internet are available on demand. Thus, users can be sure that the media of interest is always available.

However, flooding of online media and media providers also presents challenges in terms of positioning media of interest. In order to locate specific online media content without notices, a user may need to know a significant amount of information about the media. For example, if a user wants to find media related to a particular episode of a television show, the user may need to access the media provider directly, in which case the media provider is the website of the television network. The user may then need to know the title of the episode or the original broadcast date of the episode in order to efficiently locate the media on the network website. This process is inconvenient for the user and does not provide any help to those who are not searching for a particular media. Thus, Internet-delivered media content needs to enable or help users locate media of interest easily and efficiently.

Some forms of guidance for media content provided on the Internet are already available. Many guidance applications for online media are limited to providing keyword search and listings of featured media. None of these techniques provide an efficient or systematic means to narrow down the extremely large amount of media available on the Internet. Thus, users of existing guided applications are often provided with excessive lists, many of which may be uninteresting or inappropriate. Thus, there is a need for a guidance application that provides keyword search and displays characteristic online media, as well as providing a systematic way to narrow the available online media to a fairly small set of media that appeals to the user.

Media lists created by existing guide applications are often not helpful for browsing. Video search can yield results that are congested, unaligned, difficult to navigate, or unfocused. Different types of videos may be displayed in similar formats, making them substantially indistinguishable. For example, professionally generated media content may be displayed in a format similar to user-generated media content, and high quality media content may be displayed in a format similar to lower quality media content. Thus, users may need to spend a significant amount of time reviewing each media list. Thus, there is a need for an online media guidance application that allows users to quickly browse a set of online media listings.

Moreover, many existing guidance applications only provide guidance for a limited set of videos on the Internet. Thus, the limited set may not include usable online media of interest to the user. Some guidance applications are limited because they provide guidance only for the media content they are responsible for. Other applications that obtain media from third-party sites rely on partnerships with media providers, which in turn results in very limited media data sets. Thus, there is a need for a guidance application that provides guidance for a broad set of online media content.

Accordingly, systems and methods are provided for identifying and obtaining information about a set of media provided on the Internet, and for displaying a subset of identified media in a list. Systems and methods are also provided for systematically narrowing the set of online media listings provided to a user based on criteria that interests the user.

In accordance with one principle of the present invention, the online media guidance application provides selectable reference elements (eg, action / adventure, comedy, ABC, comedy central, etc.) in the user interface. By receiving one or more selections of selectable reference elements, the set of available online videos can be systematically narrowed down to a set of appropriately-sized videos of interest to the user. The selectable reference elements may be organized into categories (eg genre, channel, show). The categories can also be displayed in the user interface and the corresponding selectable reference elements can be displayed in a window near or below the corresponding category. To avoid congestion of the user interface, reference elements of one category can be visualized at a given time. If the user selects a different category, the window of currently displayed reference elements may be terminated, and a new window of selectable reference elements corresponding to the selected category is displayed.

If a user selection of the reference element is received by the guide application, the set of videos is identified based on the selected reference element and any previously selected reference elements. In some embodiments, the set of identified media can include usable media that satisfies all of the selected reference elements. In other embodiments, the set of identified media can include usable media that satisfies one or more of the selected reference elements. The set of media may be displayed in a list, such as a video mosaic or a textual list. In some embodiments, each list is displayed within a selectable frame, and upon receiving a user selection of the frame, the guidance application directs the user to the corresponding media provider's website.

In some embodiments of the invention, after narrowing the number of lists, the displayed reference elements may also be changed to reflect a new set of identified videos. For example, if a new window of selectable reference elements is displayed, the selection of the reference element may be displayed in the window only if the selection of the reference elements produces at least one video in the redefined set. In some cases, the reference element may be displayed in the window if there are videos in the set of identified videos that satisfy the reference element and all previously selected reference elements.

According to another principle of the present invention, a set of online media, wherein the guidance application provides guidance for this online media set, crawls a number of websites and loads the media provided by each website. Is determined by obtaining information. The obtained information may include metadata (eg, title, runtime, description, etc.) corresponding to each video.

For each video obtained from the Internet, the media guide application associates the video metadata with, for example, media guide application data from a media guide application database. The association may be determined by comparing the video metadata with the guide data in the guide application database. The subset of available online videos may be selected based on the range reduction mechanism, keyword search, personalization data, or editor preference designations described above. The selected online videos may be displayed in a media list such as a video mosaic or text list. The list for each video includes associated guide application data from the guide application database.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout.
1 illustrates an example display screen using a grid format that can be used to provide guidance for online video and other types of media.
2 shows an example display screen using a mosaic that can be used to provide guidance for online video.
FIG. 3 shows a more detailed view of the list in the mosaic of FIG. 2.
4-5 are two exemplary embodiments of a portion of the display screen of FIG. 2.
6 shows an example display screen for viewing and updating user favorites and preferences.
FIG. 7 shows a Venn diagram of the available online videos used by FIGS. 8A-8C, 9A, and 9B.
8A-8C are exemplary stages of a portion of the display screen of FIG. 2 in a typical use scenario.
9A and 9B are exemplary stages of a portion of the display screen of FIG. 2 in a typical usage scenario.
10 illustrates an exemplary user equipment device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
11 illustrates an example user equipment device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
12 and 13 show detailed views of an exemplary media guidance source.
14 shows an example flow diagram for obtaining, selecting, and displaying lists.
15 is an example flow diagram for directing a user to a provider of online media content.
16 shows an example flow diagram for obtaining, selecting, and displaying lists based on user-selection criteria elements.
17 illustrates an example flow diagram for displaying reference elements and identifying online media.
18 shows an example flow diagram for selecting reference elements based on user-input search items.

The amount of media available to users in any given media delivery system can be quite large. As a result, many users may desire a form of media guidance through an interface that allows users to efficiently navigate media selections and easily identify the media they may want. An application that provides such guidance is referred to herein as an interactive media guidance application or sometimes a media guidance application or guidance application. Similarly, a media guide application that provides guidance for Internet content and possibly other types of content is referred to herein as an online media guide application or an online guide application.

Various forms of interactive media guidance applications may provide guidance for media content (eg, streaming media, downloadable media, webcasts, etc.) on the Internet. One common type of media guidance application that provides guidance for online media is an interactive television program guide. Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to as electronic program guides) are, in particular, known guidance applications that allow users to search and locate many types of media content. In addition to online media, such content is not only conventional television programming (provided via traditional broadcast, cable, satellite, or other means), but also pay-per-view programs, (VOD on demand). On-demand programs such as systems) or other types of media or video content. Guidance applications also allow users to browse and locate content related to video content, including, for example, video clips, articles, advertisements, chat sessions, games, and the like.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speed wireless networks, users have become users such as personal computers (PCs) and for example hand-held computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, or other mobile devices. In other words, users are accessing media through other devices that users have not previously accessed. On these devices, users can search for and locate the same media available through the television. As a result, media guides are also needed for these devices. Provided guidance is for media content available only through television, for media content available through only one or more of these devices, or media content available through both television and one or more of these devices. It may be about. Media guidance applications may be provided as online applications (ie, provided on a website) or as standalone applications or clients on handheld computers, PDAs, mobile phones, or other mobile devices. Various devices and platforms that can implement media guidance applications are described in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media announcement application is to provide users with media lists and media information. 1 and 2 show example display screens that can be used to provide media guidance, and in particular media listings. The display screens shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be implemented on any suitable device or platform. Although the displays of FIGS. 1 and 2 are shown as full screen displays, they may be overlaid in whole or in part on the media content being displayed. The user presses a dedicated button on the remote control or other user input interface or device (e.g. a GUIDE button) or selectable options provided on the display screen (e.g. menu options, list options, icons, hyperlinks, etc.) By selecting, it can indicate that you want to access the media information. In response to the user's indication, the media guidance application may display on the display screen, for example, by time and channel in the form of a grid, by time, by channel, by media type, by category (eg, movie, sports, Media information may be presented in one of several ways, such as by news, children or other program categories), or by other predefined or user defined or other programming criteria.

1 shows an example grid program listing display 100 arranged by time and channel that also allows access to different types of media content (eg, online video) on a single display. Display 100 includes (1) a column of channel / media type identifiers 104 that identify a different channel or media type for which each channel / media type identifier (which is a cell in the column) is available; And (2) a grid 102 having a row 106 of time identifiers, each time identifier (which is a cell in a row) identifying a time block of programming. Grid 102 also includes cells of program lists, such as program list 108, where each list provides the title of a program provided through the associated channel and time of the list. Using the user input device, the user can select program lists by moving the highlight area 110. Information associated with the program list selected by the highlight area 110 may be provided to the program information area 112. Region 112 may include, for example, a program title, a program description, the time the program is provided (if applicable), the channel on which the program is broadcast (if applicable), the program rating, and other desired information. .

In addition to providing access to linear programming provided on a schedule, the media guidance application also provides access to nonlinear programming not provided on a schedule. Non-linear programming can include Internet content (e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, etc.) from various online sources, on-demand media content (e.g., VOD), locally stored media content (e.g., digital video recorders). (DVR), video content stored on a digital video disc (DVD), video cassette, compact disc (CD), etc.) or other time-insensitive media content. It may include. The on-demand content may include both original media content and movies provided by specific media providers (eg, HBO On Demand providing "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). HBO ON DEMAND, THE SOPRANOS, and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM are trademarks owned by Home Box Office. Internet content may include web events, such as chat sessions or webcasts, or content available on demand, such as streaming media or downloadable media through an Internet web site or other Internet access (eg, FTP).

Grid 102 may provide lists for nonlinear programming, including on-demand list 114, recorded media list 116, and internet content list 118. A display that combines lists for content from different types of media sources is sometimes referred to as a "mixed-media" display. Various permutations of the types of lists that may be displayed differently from the display 100 are in user-selected or guided application definitions (eg, only recorded and broadcasted lists, only displays on demand and broadcast lists, etc.). Can be based. As illustrated, the lists 114, 116, and 118 indicate that the selection of these lists may provide access to a display dedicated to each of the on-demand lists, recorded lists, or Internet lists. It is shown as spanning the entire time block displayed in grid 102. As shown in FIG. 1, the information area 112 may display information about the type of display that may be provided when accessing this list. In other embodiments, lists for these media types may be included directly in grid 102. Additional lists may be displayed in response to the user selecting one of the search icons 120. (Pressing an arrow key on the user input device can affect the display in a manner similar to selecting navigation icons 120.)

Display 100 may also include video area 122, advertisement 124, and optional area 126. Video area 122 may allow a user to watch and / or pre-view programs that were currently available, available, or available to the user. The content of video region 122 may correspond to or be independent of one of the lists displayed in grid 102. Grid displays that include a video region are sometimes referred to as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functions are described in more detail in US Pat. No. 6,564,378, registered May 13, 2003 by Satterfield et al. And US Pat. No. 6,239,794, registered May 29, 2001 by Yuen et al. Which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. PIG displays may be included in other media guidance application display screens of the present invention.

The advertisement 124 may be available for current viewing, available for future viewing, or never available for viewing, depending on the viewer's access rights (eg, for a subscription program). May provide advertisements for media content that is present, and may correspond to or be independent of one or more of the media listings in grid 102. The advertisement 124 may also be for services or products associated with or not associated with the media content displayed on the grid 102. The advertisement 124 is selectable, further provides information about the media content, provides information about the product or service, enables the purchase of the media content, the product or service, media content related to the service related to the advertisement, or the like. Can be provided. The advertisement 124 can be targeted based on the user's profile / preferences, monitored user activity, the display type provided, or based on other suitable targeted advertisement bases.

Although advertisement 124 is shown in the form of a rectangle or banner, advertisements may be provided in the guided application display in any suitable size, shape, and location. For example, advertisement 124 may be provided as a rectangular shape horizontally adjacent to grid 102. This is sometimes referred to as panel advertisement. In addition, advertisements may be superimposed on or included in the media content or guiding display. Advertisements may also include text, images, rotated images, video clips, or other types of media content. Advertisements may be stored at the user equipment with a guide application, in a database connected to the user equipment, at a remote location (including streaming media servers), or at other storage means or a combination of these locations. Providing advertisements in a media guided application is described, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 10 / 347,673 filed Jan. 17, 2003 to Knudson et al. US Patent No. 6,388,714, filed May 14, 2002 to Schein et al., 6,756,997, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. It should be understood that advertisements may be included in other media guiding application display screens of the present invention.

The option area 126 may allow a user to access various types of media content (eg, Internet content), media guide application displays, and / or media guide application features. Option area 126 may be part of display 100 (and other display screens of the present invention) or may be invoked by a user pressing a dedicated or assignable button on a user input device or selecting an on-screen option. Can be. Selectable options in option area 126 may relate to features related to program listings in grid 102 or may include options available from the main menu display. Features related to program listings can be search for other broadcast times or methods of receiving a program, program recording, enabling series recording of a program, setting a program and / or channel as a favorite, purchasing a program, or other feature. Can include them. The options available from the main menu display are search options, VOD options, parental control options, access to various types of list displays, subscription to premium services, editing a user profile, accessing a browse overlay, or other options. Can include them.

Another configuration for providing a guide is shown in FIG. 2. Display 200 provides guidance for Internet-delivered videos and may be provided as a display in an online media guide application or as a display in a client server or standalone (eg, set-top box based) guide application. . In some examples herein, although the disclosed embodiments may provide movie, user-generated content, or any other type of media content, internet-delivered television programs are provided. In some embodiments, display 200 displays the results of user selection of list 118 in display 100 (FIG. 1). For clarity and configuration, display 200 may be divided into three columns. The central column 204 contains media lists arranged in a mosaic 208. The left column 202 allows the user to define the criteria (eg, specific genre, show, etc.) for the videos provided in the mosaic 208. Right column 206 provides suggestions to the user. Each of these columns will be discussed in more detail below in connection with FIGS. 2-7, 8A-8C, and 9A-9B.

Left column 202 allows the user to select videos based on the criteria of interest. Left column 202 provides a list 210 of selectable categories. The categories may include genre, channels, shows, hotlists, type (eg, television episodes, movies, etc.), or any other such category. One of the categories may be in a selected state. The category may be selected based on user indication or may be selected by default. In the selected state, there may be a window 214 of selectable reference elements 212 corresponding to the selected category. The window can be placed under the name of the category to indicate which category is selected. Using the user input device, the user can refer to the reference element 212 in the window 214 (eg, by moving the highlight area 216 to the desired reference element and pressing a key or clicking directly on the desired reference element). Can be selected. Once selected, in addition to being displayed within window 214, the selected reference element may appear at 218. That is, the selected reference element may appear below its corresponding category 210 and above the window 214. This indicates to the user that the reference element was selected successfully. When multiple reference elements are selected within the same category, each reference element may be listed under the category in some order (eg, in the order in which the reference elements were selected, in alphabetical order, etc.). The selected reference element may be listed under its corresponding category even when no category is selected, as indicated by the selected reference element 222. Selectable button 220 may be provided next to each selected reference element 218 and 222. Selecting the button 220 may deselect the corresponding selected reference element.

An alternative way for the user to select the reference elements is to manually enter search items / keywords. A user may enter one or more keywords into the search bar 224 using a user input device. Selectable button 226 may be selected to initiate a search using the entered keywords. The search bar 224 can be used in association with the left column 202 if desired (eg, a user can select based on the criteria elements selected in the column 202 and the keywords entered in the search bar 224). Reference elements).

The central column 204 may display a set of videos of the mosaic form 208 wherein the set of videos is determined based on receipt of user input of the search bar 224 and / or the left column 202 . Unlike the lists of FIG. 1, the list in display 200 is not limited to simple text (eg, program title) and icons describing the media. Rather, in display 200, lists may contain graphic images including cover art, still images from media content, video clip previews, live video from media content, or media content described by the list. Other types of media to present to the user can be provided. Each of the graphical lists may also be accompanied by text to provide additional information regarding the media content associated with the list. In order to avoid overly complex drawings, a more detailed view of the list 228 of the mosaic 208 is shown in FIG. 3.

3 illustrates one embodiment of a media list 228 in a mosaic 208 (FIG. 2). The video may be represented by a graphic identifier 302 (eg, thumbnail / screenhot of the video, preview of the video, the video itself, etc.). The rating 304 for the video may be superimposed on a portion of the graph identifier 302. The rating may reflect rating assignments from all users who rate the video from their respective media guidance applications or associated / subscription program. Visual indicators may also be accompanied by a text box / overlay 306 to provide additional information about the media content. For example, the textual description 308 may include a media title, the date the video was made available, and the length of the video. The text box may also include simple icons 310 and / or 312. If it costs some time to stream or download media from the media provider, a simple dollar icon 310 may be displayed. If the icon 310 is not present, the video is free. Similarly, if the video is a video recommended by an editor (eg, a television or movie review), an icon such as check mark 312 may be displayed. Otherwise, the check mark 310 may not appear.

Returning to FIG. 2, the total number of identified videos since the selected or input criteria were applied is shown in region 230. Region 230 is shown as being in left column 202, but can be displayed anywhere on user interface 200. If more videos are identified than the videos currently visible in mosaic 208, selectable arrows 234 and 236 can be used to show more available videos. Selectable arrow 234 allows the user to view a new subset of identified videos, and selectable arrow 236 returns the user to the subset of identified videos that were previously viewed. The user can change the order in which the videos are displayed by selecting one of the classification links 238. The identified videos may be based on the date the video was obtained (e.g., the most recent first, or the oldest first), the popularity of the video (e.g., based on the total number of times the video was selected by other users), Can be sorted in random order or using any other mechanism for classifying a set of videos.

User interface 200 also allows users to display desired maximum video length and desired newness using sliders 240 and 242. Slider 240 sets the maximum video length. If the slider 240 is far to the right, there is no limit on the video length. As the slider moves to the left, only increasingly shorter videos are included in the results. For example, if slider 240 is at the midpoint of the scale, only video clips of less than 30 minutes are included in the results. If the slider is far left, only video clips that are less than 5 minutes are included in the results. Similarly, slider 242 sets the maximum date range. If the slider 242 is far right, there is no limit as to how old the video is. As the slider is moved to the left, only more and more recent videos can be included in the result display.

Mosaic 208 is a 2 × 2 grid of lists 228. However, any other configuration can be used, such as a 3 x 2 or 2 x 3 grid. Moreover, although each list 228 is shown to be the same size, they may be of different sizes. Depending on the media provider's desires or based on user preferences, the listings may have different sizes or graphics to indicate the degree of user's interest and the relevance of each identified video after retrieval, It can be emphasized as an enemy. Various systems and methods for graphically highlighting media lists are discussed, for example, in US Patent Application No. 11 / 324,202 to Yates, filed December 29, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Included by reference.

Each list 228 may be a selectable frame. In one embodiment of the invention, upon user selection of a selectable frame, the user is directed to a website where the corresponding video can be downloaded or streamed. The website can be displayed in an overlay or on a new screen. In another embodiment of the present invention, upon user selection of the list 228, additional information about the video, such as a description of the program, may be provided to the user in the overlay or in the right column 206. Based on the additional information, the user can choose to be directed to the website where the video is provided, and can add this video to the My Favorite Videos list or add the video to the viewing queue 244.

The viewing queue 244 displays a list of videos that the user has selected for later viewing. Each video can be represented by a graphic identifier such as a screen hot / thumbnail, a preview of the video, or the video itself. In one embodiment of the invention, each video identifier 246 is selectable, which provides the user with easy access to the videos that the user wishes to watch. If a video from the viewing queue is selected, the user can be directed to the website where the video is provided. If the video is selected, the video may be automatically removed from the viewing queue or the user may manually remove the video from the viewing queue. In another embodiment of the present invention, the viewing queue 244 serves as a "playlist." When the user is ready to watch a video from the viewing queue, the user is directed to the website of the first video in the viewing queue.

The right column 206 can display two types of information. This may either (1) provide recommended videos to the user, or (2) display additional information about the selected video. 2 and 4 show the rightmost column 206 performing the former function of displaying recommendations to the user. The latter function will be described in detail below with respect to FIG. 5. The heading 250 in column 206 appears as "top choices of the day" indicating that recommendations are selected based on the most popular videos of the day. Other methods for providing recommendations to the user will be discussed below in connection with FIG. 4. Recommended videos may be provided to the user by providing a format similar to the list 228, discussed above in connection with FIG. 3. Alternatively, the recommended video may be displayed by the title 252 of the video, the graphic identifier 254 for the video with the rating overlay 256, and the brief program description 258 of the video. Other information about each video may be provided in column 202.

When the user first enters the guide application, the top selections may be based on the most popular videos of all available videos within any category. Since the user defines the video types of interest by searching for keywords or selecting reference elements in the left column 202, the recommended videos in the right column 206 can be modified to reflect the user's behavior. For example, if the user selects the "action / adventure" reference element in window 214, the videos under "Today's top choices" are more than one of the top most popular action / adventure videos of the day. It can be changed to include videos.

Recommendations provided in the right column 206 may be based on criteria that are not popular. For example, the recommendations may be based on the editor's recommendation, as shown in column 400 of FIG. 4. Heading 402 is represented as “editor's choices” to reflect the way the recommended videos are recommended. The editor may be a famous movie or television critic or any other noun that the user can identify. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, column 400 may provide more information about each recommended video than the listings in mosaic 208 (FIG. 2). For example, for each recommended video, a title 404, a graphic identifier with a rating 408 overlay (eg, thumbnail / screenhot, etc.), and a brief description 410 are displayed. The rating 406 for each video is based on the user-input rating. Other information about the video may include network symbol 412 (eg, FOX), genre (eg, action / adventure, drama, etc.) or type 414 from the network from which the video was originally broadcast. (Eg, television episodes, movies, etc.), the length of the video 416, and a fee 418 for streaming or downloading the video. FOX is a registered trademark owned by FOX Broadcast Company. Column 400 is merely exemplary, so more or less information about the video may be displayed than mentioned above.

Techniques for selecting recommendations for the user that are not based on popularity or editor's choice may be used. The recommendations may be based on the user's interest. The user's attention may be obtained by monitoring user behavior on the media guided application, indicating user assignments, or from a user profile. For example, if the user does not like action / adventure videos, the recommended videos may be the two most popular two or three videos excluding action / adventure videos. If the user typically watches a video highlighted by Roger Ebert, the recommended video may be the two or three videos that were most recently highlighted by Roger Ebert.

If the user selects one video from the mosaic 208 or the recommended videos, as shown in FIG. 5, the right column 206 (FIG. 2) may display options to the user for the selected video. . In addition, more information about the video may be displayed. FIG. 5 shows the result of selecting one of the videos of mosaic 208 or the first video in FIG. 4. In addition to the informational content for the selected video, selectable options 504, 506, 508, 510, 516, and 518 are provided to the user. Selectable button 504 opens a new display or overlay to direct the user to the website where the video is presented. Selectable button 506 adds the current video to viewing queue 244 (FIG. 2), and selectable button 508 adds the video to the user's favorites list.

Options 510 provide links related to the currently displayed video. Thus, if the user enjoys video, the user can be directed to related videos. Related videos are provided to the user as keywords 512. Keywords 512 may be actors or other celebrities associated with the video, the network on which the program is airing, associated networks, or any other keywords associated with the video. Each keyword in the list is followed by a number 514 corresponding to the number of available videos associated with the keyword. For example, in FIG. 5, Kiefer Sutherland is the actor of the selected show, and there are 392 available videos from which the actor emerges. If the user selects the selectable link 520, the mosaic 208 (FIG. 2) is reflected to include 392 videos. The rightmost column 206 then returns to provide recommendations to the user based on the selected keyword (FIG. 4).

Column 500 may provide other options regarding selected videos, including “send to friend” 516 and “blog about this video” 518 features. Feature 516 allows the user to notify a friend about the current video. In one embodiment of the invention, the URL of the website providing the video may be sent to a friend's email address or may be sent to a friend using any other suitable means. In another embodiment of the present invention, the video may be added to the recommended list in a friend's user profile, where the friend has access to his or her account on the media guide application. When you do, you can access it. E-mail or any other method for distributing information may also be sent to the friend to notify the friend that a new recommendation has been added.

Feature 518 guides the user to a new display screen (not shown). The display screen may allow the user to enter his or his views and comments about the video after viewing the video. These views may be stored in a blog associated with the user. The blog may be a variety of specific entries, where each entry corresponds to a particular video or media information associated with the video (eg, a particular genre, show, channel, actor, etc.). In some embodiments, by selecting option 518, an entry about the video can be started automatically. The blog is stored in a user profile. The blog may be stored on a user device and may only be accessible to that user. Alternatively, the blog may be stored remotely, and the blog may be accessible to users designated as friends, or may be publicly viewed.

Other features that may be provided to the user by column 500, but not shown to avoid cluttering the drawing, include rating the video, visiting a forum about the video, and wiki-enabled about the video. Options to go to the (wiki-able) page. If desired, the user may be directed to a forum for discussing the video or a topic about the video (eg, a television show, a network providing a video, an actor of the video, etc.). The user can also go to a wiki-able page about the video or to a topic related to the video for sharing information with other guided application users.

Media guidance applications, such as the application providing display screen 200 of FIG. 2, may be personalized based on a user's preferences. The personalized media guide application allows a user to customize the displays and features to create a personalized "experience" with the media guide application. This personalized experience can be generated by a media guided application that monitors user activities by allowing users to enter these orders and / or to determine various user preferences. Users can access their personalized guide application by logging in, otherwise identifying themselves to the guide application. The order of the media guide application may be made according to the user profile. The order may include presentation methods (eg color scheme of displays, font size of text, etc.), aspects of displayed media content lists (eg recommended media content, etc.), displayed reference elements (eg Ordering of categories or reference elements, etc.), parental control settings, and other desired orders.

The media guide application may allow the user to provide user profile information or may automatically compile the user profile information. For example, the media guide application may monitor the media that the user has access to and / or other interactions with the guide application that the user may have. In addition, the media guide application can be from other websites on the Internet that the user accesses, such as www.tvguide.com, from other media guidance applications that the user accesses, and from other interactive applications that the user accesses. Obtain some or all of the other user profiles associated with the particular user, and / or obtain information about the user from other resources that the media guidance application can access. As a result, the user is provided with an integrated guided application experience for the user's other devices. This type of user experience is described in more detail below in connection with FIG. Additional personalized media guidance application features are described in US Patent Application No. 09 / filed November 9, 1999 to Boyer et al., US Patent Application No. 11 / 179,410, filed July 11, 2005 by Ellis et al. 437,304, filed February 21, 2002 to Ellis et al., Which is described in more detail, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The user may enter a preference to order the display provided by the guidance application, such as via display 600 of FIG. 6. User preferences may be stored in a user profile associated with the user. The user interface 600 can display the user's favorite videos, the user's display preferences, and allow the user to add or remove preferences. My favorite video list 602 is a list of videos, where each video has been marked as a favorite by the user, for example by selecting "Add to my favorite list", a selectable button 508. . Each entry on the list may be identified by a graphic identifier 604 (eg, screen hot / thumbnail) and text information 606. Text information 606 may include the title of the video, the length of the video, the date the video was available, and any other associated information. A " close " indicator 608 following each video in the list 602 allows the user to remove individual videos from the list. My favorite video list 602 may be different from the viewing queue 246 due to at least one reason that my favorite list 602 should be stored more permanently (eg, in a user profile). Therefore, the user may leave the guide application and return to the application later without losing information stored in the display 600. Below the favorites list 602 is a “send to friend” link 610. Link 610 allows a user to send videos in the user's favorites list to a friend. The favorite list 602 can be sent to a friend using any of the techniques described in connection with the link 516 in FIG. 5.

The user can enter viewing preferences in my preference list 612. My preference list 612 may include one or more of the user's favorite editors 614. My preference list 612 may include one or more types 616 of videos. Any of the selectable reference elements available in the left column 202 (FIG. 2) of the user interface 200 may be included in my preference list. Any of the preferences entered by the user can be removed by selecting the button 618 corresponding to the preferences, and the preferences can be added by selecting the link 620. The link 620 may bring the user a new screen (not shown) or overlay that allows the user to select additional options to include in my preferences.

Link 622 may be used to set an alert when a new video of interest to the user is available. The user may be notified when a new video is available that satisfies one or more reference elements in my preference list 612. The user sets an alert, so that all or any of the reference elements are used to trigger the alert. The alerts may be in any suitable form for communicating emails, text messages, or news that new videos of interest to the user are available.

User interface 200 (FIG. 2) may be customized based on preferences entered in lists 624 and 626. The list 624 excludes the display of any videos that do not possess the property of at least one of the reference elements in the list. For example, in the example user interface 600, the user indicates that he or she just wants to watch the results of the action / adventure genre. The filtering effect of the list 624 may only occur if at least one reference element is selected.

The list 626 may exclude videos that satisfy any of the reference elements in the list to be provided to the user. Thus, if list 620 is empty, list 620 has no effect on the videos presented to the user. By using list 624 or list 626, the user has considerable control over what types of videos can or cannot be answered in any search. Display 600 may also include other options for customizing user interface 200. In some embodiments, the user can change the options or format of the left column 202. The user can exclude that the category is displayed from being included or displayed. The user can select the order in which categories or reference elements are displayed.

7 shows an example Venn diagram 700 of videos available in the news category. As shown in the venn diagram 700, 2000 videos are available for display to users in the genre of news 702. 139 of the 2000 news videos relate to the channel, Comedy Central 704. Of course, 518 of the 2000 are related to channel C-SPAN 706. There are more videos associated with the two channels than shown in the Ben diagram, but they are not in the news genre. This is indicated by dotted lines 710 extending out of the news box 702. Finally, 30 videos in the news genre are associated with both Comedy Central and C-SPAN, as indicated by box 708.

The example display screens shown in FIGS. 8A-8C and 9A and 9B illustrate typical usage scenarios of the user interface 200, in particular, the left column 202 (FIG. 2). The scenarios describe the Venn diagram 700 in FIG. 7. At various stages, column 202 (FIG. 2) may take the form of columns 800A-800C in FIGS. 8A-8C. In this scenario, column 202 (FIG. 2) is used as a range reduction mechanism, whereby the number of videos identified is reduced due to each selected reference element. Initially, column 202 may include categories for genres, channels, shows, and hotlists. The genre category may be selected by default, and reference elements of the genre category are displayed (see FIG. 2). Upon user selection of the "news" 802 reference element in the genre category, the reference element is listed below the genre category heading and above the window of selectable elements. Next to the selected reference element 804 is a "end" button 806, which can be used to deselect the reference element, which removes it from its position on the window 812. Following user selection of the news genre, the available online videos in the news genre are identified. The number of identified videos, ie, the number 2000, is displayed at 708, which matches the number of available news videos in the Venn diagram 700.

When channel 810 is received, which is a user selection of a category, window 812 of selectable elements corresponding to the genre category is terminated. A window 814 corresponding to the channels category is shown below the channel category heading. The reference elements in window 814 each have videos that are in the news genre. Channels that do not include videos in the news genre are not included in window 814. If a user selection of the reference element 816 is received, as before, then the reference element 818 is moved below the category heading, and a "end" button 820 is provided next to the reference element. Subsequent to the user selection of the comedy central channel reference element, available online videos associated with the comedy central that are news genres are identified. 139, the number of identified videos, is shown at 822. Thus, of the 2000 videos in the news genre, only 139 of these are associated with Comedy Central, thus narrowing the scope of the video set. This is consistent with reference numeral 704 of Venn diagram 700.

Following the selection of C-SPAN in the channel category, the remaining number of videos, number 30, is displayed at 824 in FIG. 8C. Thus, of the 139 videos that meet both the news and comedy central criteria, only 30 of these videos are also related to C-SPAN. This number corresponds with reference numeral 708 in the Venn diagram 700. If a show category is selected, window 814 ends and a window 826, a new window corresponding to the television show, appears below the show category heading. Note that only one show 'The Daily Show' is listed in the window. It is news-based, related to Comedy Central, indicating that all 30 of the C-SPAN related videos are airing or at least related to The Daily Show.

If a user indication is received to remove the comedy central reference element (eg, when a user selection of button 820 is received), the identified videos need only satisfy the C-SPAN and news criteria, This will result in 818 videos, according to Venn diagram 700. This may then be reflected on a user interface (not shown). The reference elements will change accordingly and will include shows that include available videos that meet both news and C-SPAN criteria.

Column 202 (FIG. 2) may also take the forms of 900A and 900B in FIGS. 9A and 9B. In such a usage scenario, the range reduction mechanism may occasionally increase the set of identified videos using subsequent selections of reference elements. The steps involved in reaching the configuration shown in FIG. 9A may be accomplished by the steps discussed above in connection with FIGS. 8A and 8B. Therefore, for convenience, Fig. 8B is reproduced as Fig. 9A. In FIG. 9A, the new reference element of the genre category and the comedy central reference element of the channel category are selected, and the reference elements of the channel category are displayed. This results in 139 videos, consistent with Venn diagram 700.

Following the selection of C-SPAN in the channel category, the identified videos are expanded to include news-related videos in Comedy Central or C-SPAN. Thus, the number of identified videos increases from 139 to 627 videos, as shown at 904. News-related shows from both Comedy Central and C-SPAN are listed, as seen from observations from the window 906 of selectable reference elements in the show category (eg, by selecting the show category). Note that in window 906 the videos from each channel are separated to show that they satisfy other category elements in different categories (show 908 is from Comedy Central and show 910 is from C- SPAN). In some embodiments, reference elements are displayed together (eg, alphabetically) rather than for reference elements selected in other categories.

If a user indication to remove the comedy central reference element is received (eg, when a user selection of the button 914 is received), the set of videos can be narrowed. In this case, the identified videos need to meet the news and C-SPAN criteria, which reduces the set of videos from 627 to 518, according to Venn diagram 700. This may then be reflected in a user interface (not shown). Thus, the reference elements are modified and include shows that include available videos that meet both news and C-SPAN criteria.

Users can access media content and media guidance application (and its display screens described above) from one or more of their user equipment devices. 10 illustrates a generalized embodiment of an example user equipment device 1000. More specific implementations of user equipment devices are discussed below with respect to FIG. 11. The user device 1000 may receive media content and data through an input / output (“I / O”) path 1002. I / O path 1002 includes media content (eg, broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, and other video or audio) in control circuit 1004 that includes processing circuit 1006 and storage 1008. And data. Control circuit 1004 may be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other appropriate data using I / O path 1002. I / O path 1002 may connect control circuit 1004 (and specifically processing circuit 1006) to one or more communication paths (described below). I / O functions may be provided by one or more of these communication paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 10 to avoid overly complex drawings.

Control circuit 1004 may be based on any suitable processing circuit 1006, such as a processing circuit based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, and the like. In some embodiments, control circuit 1004 executes instructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (ie, storage 1008). In client-server based embodiments, the control circuit 1004 may include communication circuitry suitable for communicating with a guided application server or other networks or servers. The communication circuit may include a cable modem, an integrated service digital network (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem or a wireless modem for communicating with other equipment. Such communication includes at least the Internet for obtaining online media content, and may additionally include any other suitable communication networks or paths (described in more detail with respect to FIG. 11). In addition, the communication circuitry may include circuitry that enables peer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices or communication of user equipment devices at remote locations (described in greater detail below).

Memory (eg, random-access memory, read-only memory, or any other suitable memory), hard drives, optical drives, or any other fixed or removable storage device (eg, DVD recorder, CD recorder, video cassette recorder or other suitable recording device) may be provided as the reservoir 1008 which is part of the control circuit 1004. Repository 1008 may include one or more of the above types of storage devices. For example, user equipment device 1000 may include a hard drive for a DVR (sometimes called a personal video recorder or PVR) and a DVD recorder as a second storage device. The repository 1008 can be used to store various types of media and guide application data described herein, including program information, guide application settings, user preferences or profile information, or other data used to operate the guide application. Can be. Nonvolatile memory may also be used (to initiate boot-up routines and other instructions).

The control circuit 1004 may be a video such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2 decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-resolution tuners, or any other suitable tuning or video circuitry or combinations of such circuits. It may include a generation circuit and a tuning circuit. Encoding circuits (eg, for converting over-the-air, analog or digital signals into MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided. The control circuit 1004 may also include a scaler circuit for upconverting and downconverting the media to the preferred output format of the user equipment 1000. Circuit 1004 may also include digital-to-analog converter circuits and analog-to-digital converter circuits for conversion between digital and analog signals. Tuning and encoding circuitry may be used by user equipment to receive, display, play, or record media content. Tuning and encoding circuits may also be used to receive the guide data. For example, the circuits described herein, including tuning, video generation, encoding, decoding, scaler, and analog / digital circuitry, can be implemented using software running on one or more general purpose or special purpose processors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handle concurrent tuning functions (eg, viewing and recording functions, picture-in-pictire (PIP) functions, multi-tuner recording, etc.). If the reservoir 1008 is provided as a separate device from the user equipment 1000, tuning and encoding circuitry (including a plurality of tuners) may be associated with the reservoir 1008.

The user may control the control circuit 1004 using the user input interface 1010. User input interface 1010 may be any suitable user interface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard, touch screen, touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognition interface, or other user input interfaces. . The display 1012 may be provided as a standalone device or integrated with other elements of the user equipment device 1000. Display 1012 may be one or more of a monitor, television, liquid crystal display for a mobile device, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images. In some embodiments, display 1012 may be HDTV-capable. Speakers 1014 may be integrated with other elements of user equipment 1000 or may be standalone units. The audio component of the videos and other media content displayed on the display 1012 is played through the speaker 1014. In some embodiments, the audio can be distributed to a receiver (not shown) that processes the audio and outputs it through speakers 1014.

The user equipment device 1000 of FIG. 10 may be any other type suitable for accessing media such as user television equipment 1102, user computer equipment 1104, wireless user communication device 1106, or a non-portable gaming machine. It may be implemented in the system 1100 of FIG. 11 as user equipment. For simplicity, these devices may be collectively referred to herein as user equipment or user equipment devices. The user equipment devices on which the media guidance application is implemented may function as standalone devices or may be part of a network of devices. Various network configurations of devices may be implemented and discussed in more detail below.

User television equipment 1102 may be a set-top box, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for processing satellite television, a television set, a digital storage device, a DVD recorder, a video cassette recorder (VCR), a local media server, or other user television equipment. It may include. One or more of these devices may be integrated into a single device, if desired. User computer equipment 1104 may include a PC, laptop, tablet, WebTV box, personal computer television (PC / TV), PC media server, PC media center, or other user computer equipment. WEBTV is a trademark owned by Microsoft Corporation. The wireless user communication device 1106 may include PDAs, mobile phones, portable video players, portable music players, portable game machines, or other wireless devices.

As the integration of television tuner cards for PCs, WEBTVs, and video into other user equipment devices emerges, it is noted that when one attempts to classify a device as one of the devices, its boundaries are blurring. In fact, each of user television equipment 1102, user computer equipment 1104, and wireless user communication equipment 1106 may use at least some of the system features described above in connection with FIG. 10, and as a result are available on the device. Includes flexibility in the type of media content. For example, user television equipment 1102 may be Internet-enabled to allow access to Internet content, while user computer equipment 1104 may include a tuner to allow access to television programming. The media guide application may also have the same layout for various different types of user equipment, or may be tailored to the display performance of the user equipment. For example, on a user computer device, the guidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a web browser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled down for the wireless user communication device.

In the system 1100, there are typically more than one user equipment device for each type, but only one each is shown in FIG. 11 to avoid overly complex drawings. In addition, each user may use more than one type of user equipment device (eg, the user may have a television set and a computer) and may also have more than one user equipment device (eg, each type). The user may have a PDA and a mobile phone and / or multiple television sets).

The user can also set various settings to maintain consistent media guidance application settings for on-premises devices and remote devices. The settings include those described herein and programming preferences, display preferences, and other preferred guide settings that the guide application uses to make channel and program favorites, program recommendations. If a user, for example, sets up a channel as a favorite for the website www.tvguide.com on their personal computer in their office, the same channel is the user's premises device (eg, user television equipment and User computer equipment) and, if desired, as a favorite on the user's mobile device. Thus, changes made on the user equipment device may change the guided experience on another user equipment device regardless of whether they are the same type or a different type of user equipment device. In addition, the changes may be based on settings entered by the user and user activity monitored by the guidance application.

User equipment devices may be connected to communication network 1114. The so-called user television equipment 1102, user computer equipment 1104, and wireless user communication device 1106 are connected to the communication network 1114 via communication paths 1108, 1110, and 1112, respectively. The communication network 1114 includes the Internet, and in addition, one or more other networks, including mobile telephone networks, mobile device (eg, BlackBerry) networks, cable networks, public switched telephone network networks, or other types of communication networks. Or combinations of communication networks. BLACKBERRY is a trademark owned by Research In Motion Limited Corp. The paths 1108, 1110, and 1112 may include one or more communication paths, eg, satellite paths, fiber optic paths, cable paths, paths that support Internet communication (eg, IPTV), (eg, broadcast Or a free space connection (for other wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communication path, or a combination of these paths, individually or together. The path 1112 is shown in dashed lines to indicate that it is a wireless path in the example embodiment shown in FIG. 11, and the paths 1108 and 1110 are (although these paths may be the wireless path if they are desired). It is shown with a solid line to indicate that it is a wired path. Communications with the user equipment devices may be provided by one or more of these communication paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 11 to avoid overly complex drawings.

Although communication paths are not shown between the user equipment devices, these devices are communication paths as described above in connection with the paths 1108, 1110, and 1112, as well as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, and the like. It can communicate directly with each other via other short range point-to-point communication paths, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or other short range communication via wired or wireless paths. have. BLUETOOTH is a Bluetooth SIG, INC. Is a trademark owned by The user equipment devices may also communicate directly with each other via an indirect path via the communication network 1114.

System 1100 includes a web server 1116 and a media guide data source 1118 connected to communication network 1114 via communication paths 1120 and 1122, respectively. The paths 1120 and 1122 can include any of the communication paths described above in connection with the paths 1108, 1110, and 1122. Communication with the web server 1116 and media guide data source 1118 may be exchanged for using one or more communication paths, but is shown as a single path in FIG. 11 to avoid overly complex drawings. Also, there may be more than one web server 1116 and media guide data source 1118 each, but only one of each is shown in FIG. 11 to avoid overly complex drawings. (The various types of each of these sources are discussed below). If desired, the web server 1116 and media guide data source 1118 may be integrated as one source device. Although communications between user equipment devices 1102, 1104, and 1106 and sources 1116 and 1118 are shown through communication network 1114, in some embodiments, sources 1116 and 1118 are connected to paths ( Communicate directly with user equipment devices 1102, 1104, and 1106 via communication paths (not shown), such as those described above in connection with 1108, 1110, and 1112.

Online media may be provided by web server 1116. The web server 1116 may provide a website of an online media provider (eg, a television network website, an entertainment website, a movie website, or a website that aggregates content from multiple sources). The online media provider may provide a variety of content (eg full-length movies / television episodes, segments of movie / episodes, trailers / previews, interviews with actors / directors / producers, original online-only content, Or promotions for the network or program). The online media provider may host various types of media (eg, streaming, downloadable, user generated, professionally generated, etc.). The provided online media may be stored locally at the web server 1116 or at a remote media server. In addition to media content, web server 1116 may store metadata (eg, title, description, URL, etc.) for each provided media.

One or more of other media sources (not shown) may also provide media content to the user equipment and may include any of the communication paths described above with respect to paths 1108, 1110, and 1112. One or more paths may be connected to the communication network. Other media sources may include television distribution facilities, cable system headends, satellite distribution facilities, programming sources (eg, television broadcasters such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediate distribution facilities, and / or servers. And one or more types of media distribution equipment including on-demand media servers or other media content providers. NBC is a trademark owned by National Broadcasting Company, Inc, ABC is a trademark owned by ABC, INC, and HBO is a trademark owned by Home Box Office, Inc. Other media sources may be producers of media content (eg, television broadcasters, webcast providers, etc.) or may not be producers of media content (eg, on-demand media content providers, etc.). Other media sources may include cable sources, satellite providers, on-demand providers, or other providers of media content. Other media resources may include a remote media server that is used to store other types of media content (including video content selected by the user) at a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Remote storage of media content, and systems and methods for providing remotely stored media content to user equipment are described in more detail in connection with US patent application Ser. No. 09 / 332,244, filed June 11, 1999 by Ellis et al. Which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Media guide data source 1118 can provide media guide data for a media guide application. Media guide data source 1118 includes data stores 1124 and 1126 and can provide guide data from either of the data stores. The guide data may typically include program information, such as program titles, episode titles, episode synopsis, editor comments, and the like, as found in TV Guide Magazine or www.tvguide.com, for example. Data stores 1124 and 1126 may be one or more relational databases or other suitable storage mechanisms. Data stores 1124 and 1126 may be in local or remote locations (as shown in system 1100).

Data store 1126 stores media announcement data that may or may not be available online. The stored media guidance data may include media listings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast time, broadcast channels, media titles, media descriptions, rating information (e.g., parental control ratings, (E.g., MPEG), advertising information (e.g., text, images, media, etc.), genre or category information, actor information, logo data for broadcasters or providers' Clips, etc.) and any other type of instructional data that helps the user locate and locate desired media selections. Data store 1126 may also store identifiers in reference to relevant media in data store 1124.

The media guidance data source 1118 may also include a data store 1124. Data store 1124 stores information related to videos available on web servers 1116. The data store 1124 may store metadata associated with each video (eg, title, description, URL, etc.) from the web servers 1116, or may store information derived from the metadata. The data store 1124 may also store metadata that is not provided from the web servers 1116 (eg, dates entered in the data store 1124, popularity, user generated tags / keywords, etc.). The data store 1124 may store identifiers in the data store 1126 to display additional media announcement data associated with videos found from the web servers 1116. [ In some embodiments, data store 1124 stores online media provided by web servers 1116 with information about the media.

Media guide application data may be provided to user equipment devices using any suitable method. In some embodiments, the guide application is a standalone interactive television program that receives program guide data via a data feed (eg, a continuous feed, a trickle feed, or data in the vertical retrace section of the channel). It may be a guide. Program schedule data and other announcement data may be used using in-band digital signals, using out-of-band digital signals, or by any other suitable data transfer technique. And, within the vertical blanking period of the television channel, to the user equipment via the television channel sideband. Program schedule data and other announcement data may be provided to the user equipment through multiple analog or digital television channels. Program schedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the user equipment at any suitable frequency (eg, in succession, daily, user-specified period, system-specified period, in response to a request from the user equipment, etc.). have. In some methods, the announcement data and / or other media sources from the media announcement data source 1118 may be provided to the user's equipment using a client-server method. For example, a guide application client residing at the user equipment may initiate sessions using source 1118 to obtain guide data when needed. The media guide data source 1118 can provide the user equipment devices 1102, 1104, and 1106 with a media update application itself or a software update for the media guide application.

Media guidance applications can be, for example, standalone applications implemented on user equipment devices. In other embodiments, the media announcement applications may only be client-server applications in which the client resides on a user equipment device. For example, the media guidance applications are implemented, in part, as a client application on the control circuit 1011 of the user equipment device 1000, and in part, as a server application (eg, media guidance data source 1118). It can be implemented on. Guidance application displays may be generated by the media guidance data source 1118 and transmitted to user equipment devices. Media guide data source 1118 also transmits data for storage on user equipment, which user equipment then generates guide application displays based on the instructions processed by the control circuitry.

Media guidance system 1100 is intended to illustrate a number of methods or network configurations, whereby user equipment devices and sources of media content and announcement data access media and include media that includes Internet-delivered content. Communicate with each other for the purpose of providing The invention can be applied in any one or subset of these methods, or in a system employing other methods for delivering media and providing media guidance. The following three methods provide specific examples of the generalized example of FIG.

In one method, the user equipment devices can communicate with each other within a home network. The user equipment devices may communicate directly with one another via the short range range point-to-point communication scheme described above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similar device provided on a home network, or via communication network 1114. . Each of a number of individuals in a single home can operate different user equipment devices on the home network. As a result, this may be desirable for various media guidance information, including media guidance information for Internet-delivered content, or settings to be communicated between different user equipment devices. For example, as described in more detail in US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 179,410, filed July 11, 2005 by Ellis et al., Users have consistent media guidance applications on different user equipment devices in a home network. It may be desirable to maintain the settings. Other types of user equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with each other to transfer media content. For example, a user may transfer online media content from a user computer device to a portable video player or a portable music player.

In a second method, users may have multiple types of user equipment to obtain media announcements by accessing media content including internet-delivered media content. For example, some users may have home networks accessed by on-premises and mobile devices. Users can control on-premises devices through a media guidance application implemented on a remote device. For example, users can access an online media guide application on a website through a personal computer in their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA or web-enabled mobile phone. The user can set various settings (eg, recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidance application to control the user's premises equipment. The online guide can control the user's equipment either directly by controlling the user's equipment or by communicating with media applications on the user's premises equipment. Various systems and methods for user equipment devices communication, in which user equipment devices are located at remote locations, are discussed, for example, in US Patent Application No. 10 / 927,814, filed August 26, 2004 by Ellis et al. Which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In a third method, users of user equipment devices in and out of the home may use their media guidance application to communicate directly with web servers 1116 or other media content sources to access Internet-delivery and other media content. Can be used. Specifically, within a home, users of user television equipment 1104 and user computer equipment 1106 may access a media guidance application to navigate and locate desired media content. Users can also use wireless user communication devices 1106 to access media guide applications outside of home to browse and locate desired media content.

Although the discussion of media content has focused on video content, it should be understood that the principles of media guidance may be applied to other types of media content, such as music, images, and the like.

A more detailed view of one embodiment of media guide data source 1118 is shown in FIG. 12. In addition to the data repositories 1124 and 1126, the media guide data source 1118 may include a web crawler device 1202 and a web server 1204. Web crawler device 1202 and web server 1204 may include one or more processing circuits 1214 and 1218 and reservoirs 1216 and 1210, respectively. They may include any of the components and features of the user equipment device described above with respect to FIG. 10. They may additionally include any circuitry or stored software (e.g., database drivers, web crawler device applications, web server applications, etc.). Web crawler device 1202 and web server 1204 interact with data stores 1124 and 1126 via I / O paths 1210, 1218, 1220 and 1222. Web crawler device 1202 and web server 1204 communicate with communication network 1114 via I / O paths 1206 and 1212, which are collectively referred to as link 1122 in FIG. 11. I / O paths 1206, 1210, 1212, 1218, 1220 and 1222 may be any suitable communication paths described above in connection with reference numerals 1108, 1116 and 1112. Although the web crawler device 1202 and web server 1204 are shown as separate entities, their functions may be performed by a single unit.

In a typical scenario, web crawler device 1202 obtains online media information (eg, metadata) and, in some embodiments, online media content originally provided from web servers 1116. That is, the web crawler device 1202 captures information about the available online media on the Internet. In FIG. 12, dotted lines are shown between the link 1206 and the web server 1116 to indicate that the web crawler device 1202 requests media information and media directly from the web server 1116. The web crawler device 1202 may then store information about available online media in the data store 1124. To do so, the web crawler device 1202 accesses, retrieves, adds, updates, or removes data from the data store 1124. The web crawler device 1202 may store the information on the web servers 1116 in the repository 1210. Accordingly, the web crawler device 1202 may store the captured information directly in the data store 1124 or first process the captured information using associated data in the data store 1126 and / or the store 1210. can do.

In a typical scenario, web server 1204 may access or retrieve data from data stores 1124 and 1126. The web server 1204 can use the data retrieved from one or both of the data stores to provide media announcement application data for the media announcement application. The web server 1204 may store user personalization data (eg, user profiles) in the repository 1216 and any other suitable information for preparing the display and / or data. Web server 1204 may provide data over I / O link 1212 using any of the methods described above in connection with FIG. 11. For example, the web server 1204 may send raw data, processed data or may prepare a display, depending on the type of user equipment and / or guidance application.

The system 1300 of FIG. 13 is another exemplary embodiment of a media guide data source 1118. FIG. 13 includes the components of FIG. 12 but also includes a data manager user equipment 1302, an editor user equipment 1310, and an editor's selection data store 1308.

Data manager user equipment 1302 may include processing circuitry 1304 and storage 1306. The data manager user equipment may be one of the user equipment devices 1102, 1104, or 1106. Data manager user equipment 302 may include any or all of the components of user equipment devices. In FIG. 13, data manager user equipment 1302 may be part of data store 1124, and data store 1124 via any path described with respect to I / O paths 1108, 1116, and 1112. Communicate data with In some embodiments, the data manager user equipment is standard user equipment (eg, laptop, mobile device, etc.) away from system 1300, and the data manager is via web crawler device 1202 or web server 1204. You can sign in to gain access. Typically, there are more than one data manager user equipment in the system 1300, but only one is shown to avoid overly complex drawings.

In a typical usage scenario, the data manager may use the data manager user equipment to access, retrieve, add, remove, or update entries in the data store 1124. Data managers can correct misinformation about online videos, remove disabled videos, add online media information and / or online media content, add tags associated with entries in data store 1126, or Any information that can be used by the web crawler device 1202 and the web server 1204 can be added. For example, data administrators can tag certain web servers 1116 so that any list from these tagged web servers is highlighted in the list.

Editor's Choice Data Store 1308 may be one or more relational databases or other suitable storage mechanisms. Editor's Choice Database 1308 may include a separate storage space for each editor. Editor's selection database 1308 may include editor preference designations for individual online media. In addition, the editor's selection database 1304 may include hotlists for each editor, where the hotlist is a list of the editor's favorite or preferred media. For editor preference designation in editor's selection database 1308, editor selection database 1308 may store links in data stores 1124 and 1126. The links can be used by the web server 1204 when collecting data or generating displays for media guiding applications. In some embodiments, the editor selection data store 1308 is part of the repository 1216 at the web server 1204.

Editor user equipment 1310 may include a processing circuit 1312 and a reservoir 1314. Editor user equipment 1310 may include features and / or components discussed with respect to data manager user equipment 1302. The editor user equipment may communicate remotely or locally with the editor selection data store 1308 via any path described with respect to the I / O paths 1108, 1116, and 1112. In some embodiments, the editor user equipment may have access to a portion of the repository 1216 at the web server 1214, and editor preference assignments may be stored in the repository 1216. In a typical usage scenario, an editor may enter preference assignments in a manner similar to the way a user enters media into the My Favorites list (see FIG. 5). Typically, there are more than one editor user equipment in the system 1300, but only one is shown to avoid overly complex drawings.

In the present invention, the online media guide application can select a set of videos and information about the selected videos can be displayed to the user. A flowchart 1400 of exemplary steps involved in obtaining and providing media guidance data is shown in FIG. 14. In step 1402, online videos from one or more online media providers (eg, web server 1116) are identified and accessed. Information about each identified video can be obtained from an online media provider. In some embodiments, multiple internet sites are crawled and metadata corresponding to the available videos is scraped from the internet sites. Internet sites may include web sites of online media providers. Video metadata includes video title, description, video URL, source name, source URL, genre, program type (e.g. clips, full-length episodes, online only, movie trailers), screenshots / thumbnails, actors of the video. , Running time, character name, video format (e.g., REAL, WMV, Flash, QuickTime, etc.), active / expiration date, stream / download, DRM, price and resolution (e.g., full screen, 320x240, etc.) ) May be included.

Collected metadata for each identified video may be stored (eg, in data store 124) at step 1404. In addition, the collected metadata, as well as other metadata not obtained from the media provider (eg, keywords or tags added by the data manager (eg, from data manager user equipment 1310), user ratings) , Popularity, date the video was found on the Internet, editor preference designations, wiki-enabled content data, etc.). Stored metadata may be updated continuously, at fixed or variable time intervals, or may not be updated at all. In some embodiments, the identified online video itself (eg, the actual video file / clip / asset) is also stored.

In step 1406, metadata for each of the videos may be associated with media guide data, where the media guide data may be stored in a media guide database. An association may be determined based on a comparison of the video metadata with metadata in a media guidance database (eg, data repository 1126) or the association may be added by a data manager. In some embodiments, some of the collected metadata is used to perform association with the media guide data and is not actually stored at step 1404. In still other embodiments, the degree of association may be stored instead of just the association. For example, metadata can be compared and a high degree of relevance can be given to online videos that match a greater proportion of the metadata.

At step 1406, each video may be associated with one or more entries in the media guidance database. For example, metadata about the video of a television episode may be associated with a television show, television episode, actors of the show, television network, or any editor who commented on the episode or show. Association may be made by storing the video metadata with a tag from the media guide database. Alternatively, associations or links between stored metadata and media guidance data may be stored remotely.

The subset of videos can be selected at step 1408. The subset may be automatically selected based on editor preference designations (eg, from editor selection database 1308) or based on user personalization data. User personalization data may be obtained from a user profile, by monitoring user behavior, or from express assignments made by the user (see FIG. 6). The set of videos may also be automatically selected based on criteria such as the novelty or popularity of the videos (see column 206 of FIG. 2).

A subset of the videos may be selected at step 1408 in response to receiving the user command. The user may enter one or more search items or keywords (in search bar 224), and the subset of videos may be determined based on the comparison of the keywords with stored metadata associated with each video. . The user can select specific reference elements of interest (eg, genre, show, channel, clip length, etc.) (eg, using column 202 of FIG. 2). The subset of videos may be one that meets the criteria and is determined based on the inspection of the stored metadata.

There is metadata associated with media guide data and online video. Thus, a subset of videos can be determined by comparing search items or other criteria with one of the sources of metadata. In one embodiment, search items and / or other reference elements are compared with the metadata of the media guide application. This comparison brings relevant media guidance data. Since there is an association linking media guidance data to related online videos, a subset of the videos can be determined. In another embodiment of the invention, the subset of videos is determined based on a comparison of the search keywords and / or other criteria and the metadata of the videos. Depending on how the collected metadata is stored, the amount of metadata for each collected video, and how the associations are made, the two techniques may or may not bring the same set of videos.

In some embodiments, the media guide database includes more than the media guide data. The media guide database also includes media such as video media. In this case, the subset of videos identified in step 1408 may include videos identified from the Internet and / or video stored in a media guidance database.

A display is generated at step 1410 representing each video in the subset of videos. The display for each video in the subset includes guiding application data from the guiding application database. The guide application data is determined based on the associations generated in step 1406. The display also displays some of the collected and / or generated video metadata (eg, in text box 308 of FIG. 3, in column 400 of FIG. 4, as keywords 512 of FIG. 5, etc.). Or both. In some embodiments, the display is a mosaic in which each video in the subset is represented by at least a graphic identifier (eg, a still image from the video). In other embodiments, the display can be text-only. The displayed media lists may also indicate the relevance of each list, where the relevance is based on an indication of the data manager (see FIG. 13) or the degree of relevance evaluated when the list is associated with media guidance data in step 1406. Can be determined.

In some embodiments, the online media guide application can direct the user to media content of interest to the user. Flowchart 1500 of FIG. 15 illustrates exemplary steps to provide this feature. Online media information can be obtained and processed based on the strategies discussed in steps 1404-1406 of FIG. 14. The subset of videos may include user personalization data, editor preference designations, user-entered search items (eg, in search bar 224 in FIG. 2), or in left column 202 of FIG. 2. ) May be identified in step 1502 using any of the techniques discussed in step 1408, including selecting videos based on user-selection criteria elements. In step 1504, a display is generated using a frame from each of the identified videos. The display may be similar to the display screen 200 shown in FIG. User selection of the frame is received by the online media guidance application at step 1506. Based on the selection, at step 1508, the guide application directs the user to a website that provides the selected media content. The website may be provided as an overlay in a frame within the guidance application or may be shown on a full screen.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a set of videos can be identified and further refined based on user selection of selectable reference elements. Flowchart 1600 of FIG. 16 illustrates this process. The online media information may be obtained and processed based on the strategies discussed in steps 1404-1406. Reference elements (eg, action / adventure, news, ABC, comedy central, etc.) may be displayed to the user, as in window 214 of FIG. 2, at step 1602. In some embodiments, the selectable reference elements can be a predefined set of reference elements that are always displayed. In still other embodiments, the selectable reference elements may include only reference elements that satisfy the media identified from the Internet in step 1402.

In step 1604, the media guidance application receives a user indication of one of the selectable reference elements. Based on the selected reference element, the subset of identified media is selected at step 1606. Since the selected reference element is the first criterion selected by the user, the subset is selected based only on this selected reference element. However, if other selected reference elements have already been received, the subset of videos may be selected based on one or more of all selected reference elements. The subset of identified videos may be selected based on any of the strategies discussed above with respect to step 1408 of FIG. 14.

After the subset of videos is selected, a display can be generated that displays each video in the subset, at step 1410, such as mosaic 208 of FIG. This step may proceed by using any of the techniques discussed in connection with FIG. 14. The media guide application may then receive a user selection of another selectable reference element in step 1604. This refines the selected subset of videos in step 1606, and the changed subset is reflected in the display generated in step 1410.

In some embodiments, the guidance application may display selectable reference elements grouped into categories. Based on the user selection, the videos of interest of the user can be identified, and thus the displayed reference elements can be updated. Thus, the identified videos may depend not only on which reference elements are selected but also which categories have the selected reference elements. Flowchart 1700 in FIG. 17 is an exemplary flowchart in accordance with the principles of the invention. As will be discussed in more detail below, flowchart 1700 may take for many embodiments.

In one embodiment of flowchart 1700, the set of identified videos depends only on the most recently selected reference element. If the user first enters the guide application, multiple categories may be displayed to the users at step 1702. For example, the categories may be genre, channels, shows, and hotlists (see column 202 of FIG. 2). In addition, one of the categories may default to the selected stage in which a window of reference elements in the category is displayed. In some embodiments, the reference element for the selected category is displayed only if at least one video in the database satisfies the reference element.

When receiving a user selection in step 1704, if the selection is a reference element (eg, reference element 212 of FIG. 2) in the selected category, videos that meet the selected criteria are identified in step 1706. The videos may be identified based on any of the strategies discussed in connection with FIG. 14. The identified videos may be displayed in a mosaic, as in the display screen 200 of FIG. 2. The media guidance application may then receive a user selection of another criterion in the current category, or receive a selection of a different category (step 1704).

When receiving a user selection in step 1704, if the selection is a category other than the currently selected category, the window of selectable reference elements corresponding to the currently selected category ends in step 1708. A new window is provided in step 1710, in which selectable reference elements corresponding to the newly selected category are displayed in the new window. The window may be located directly below the category to indicate that the window corresponds to the category. The user interface then receives a user selection of the reference element in the newly selected category or a selection of another category (step 1704).

In another embodiment of flowchart 1700, the media guidance application may continue to track the selected reference element and use each selected reference element to narrow down the identified videos. If the user first enters the guide application, a number of categories are displayed to the user in step 1702. For example, the categories may be genres, channels, shows and hotlists (see column 202 of FIG. 2). In addition, one of the categories may default to the selected stage in which a window of reference elements in the category is displayed.

Upon receiving the user selection at step 1704, if the selection is a reference element that is within the selected category, videos that satisfy the selected criteria and all previously selected criteria are identified (step 1706). Since selecting a reference element adds a condition that all identified videos must satisfy, selecting the reference element narrows the video set and reduces the number of identified videos. As an example, a discussion of columns 800B and 800C of Figures 8B and 8C, where the set of identified videos is reduced from 139 (822 in Figure 8B) to 30 (824 in Figure 8C) Please refer. If multiple reference elements are selected from one or more categories, the identified videos satisfy a Boolean expression:

(SC1 AND SC2 AND ... AND newly selected criteria),

Where "SCX" represents "selected criterion X". Alternatively, other suitable multiple selection criteria schemes can be used, such as the inclusive selection of all identified videos within any one of the multiple selection criteria; The identified videos may satisfy an algebraic representation (SC1 AND SC2 AND ... AND. Newly selected criteria), where "SCX" represents "selected criteria X".

Upon receiving a user selection in step 1704, if the selection is an indication to "end" the previously selected reference element (eg, by selecting button 220 on display screen 200), the termination indication may be entered. The corresponding criterion is deselected (step 1712). Thus, the set of identified videos is expanded to include all videos that satisfy the remaining selected reference elements, not the deselected reference element in step 1714.

When receiving a user selection in step 1704, if the selection is a category other than the currently selected category, the window corresponding to the currently selected category (eg, window 814 of FIG. 8B) may end in step 1708. . A new window (window 826 of FIG. 8C) is displayed and selectable reference elements corresponding to the newly selected category can be displayed in the new window (step 1710). Selectable reference elements may include reference elements that, if selected, result in at least one identified video. That is, the selectable reference element in the newly selected category may be displayed when there are available videos that satisfy the reference element and all previously selected reference elements.

Similarly, upon user selection of the reference element in step 1704, the remaining selectable reference elements in the category may also be reduced in connection with narrowing the videos identified in step 1706. That is, after narrowing the set of identified videos, the selectable reference element may be removed from the list if no video exists that also satisfies the selectable reference element in the narrowed set.

In another embodiment of flowchart 1700, selecting multiple reference elements may extend the identified video set. If the user first enters the announcement application, the media announcement application may display a number of categories in step 1702. For example, the categories may be genres, channels, shows, hotlists. In addition, one of the categories may default to the selected step in which a window of reference elements in the category is displayed.

When receiving a user selection in step 1704, if the selection is a reference element within the selected step, then each video is (1) any of the selected reference elements or previously selected reference elements of the same category, And (2) a set of videos that satisfies at least one selected reference element in each of the remaining other categories including at least one selected reference element (step 1706). The video set may be extended to include videos that only satisfy the newly selected reference element and none of the previously selected reference elements in the category. For one example, the columns of columns 900A and 900B of FIGS. 9A and 9C extend from 139 (reference numeral 902 in FIG. 9A) to 627 (reference numeral 904 in FIG. 9B). See the discussion of. Thus, if multiple reference elements are selected from one or more categories, the identified videos are an algebraic representation:

(SC1 _cat1 OR ... OR SCN _cat1 ) AND (SC1 _cat2 OR ... OR SCN _cat2 ) ...,

Where "SCX _catY " represents "criteria X selected from category Y".

Upon receiving a user selection in step 1704, if the selection is an indication to "end" the previously selected reference element (eg, by selecting button 220 of display screen 200), the termination The criterion corresponding to the indication is deselected (step 1712). Since the subset of identified videos only satisfies the deselected criteria in the category and none of the remaining selected reference elements, the videos in the subset are no longer identified and are not presented to the user ( Step 1714). Thus, deselecting the reference element can narrow the video set and reduce the number of identified videos.

When receiving a user selection in step 1704, if the selection is a category other than the currently selected category, the window corresponding to the currently selected category ends in step 1708. The new window appears under a newly selected category, such as window 906 of FIG. 9B, with selectable reference elements corresponding to the newly selected category (eg, reference number 908 or reference number 910 of FIG. 9B) within the new window. It may be displayed (step 1710). The list of selectable reference elements may include reference elements that, when selected, result in at least one video. That is, the selectable reference element within the newly selected category is assigned to each of (1) the selectable reference element or any other previously selected reference element in the same category, and (2) the remaining categories having at least one selected element. If there are videos in the database that satisfy the at least one selected reference element, they may be displayed.

In another embodiment of flowchart 1700, the effect of selecting a reference element may vary depending on which category the reference element is in. For example, selecting a number of reference elements in some categories (eg, genre) may cause the guide application to identify videos that meet all of the selected reference elements in step 1706. Selecting a number of reference elements in another category (eg, channels and shows) may allow the guidance application to identify videos that satisfy any of the selected reference elements. In essence, this embodiment is a combination of the two embodiments discussed previously. Thus, if multiple reference elements are selected from one or more categories, the identified videos are an algebraic representation:

(SC1 _cat1 OR ... OR SCN _cat1 ) AND (SC1 _cat2 AND ... AND SCN _cat2 ) ...,

Where "SCX _catY " represents "criteria X selected from category Y".

The media guide application can also use keywords entered by the user to define a set of videos. 18 shows an example flow diagram 1800 for providing videos and reference elements following receipt of one or more keywords. In step 1802, one or more keywords are received by the media guide application. A set of videos is identified at step 1804 based on the one or more keywords. The set may be described based on any of the strategies described above with respect to FIG. 14. A set of reference elements of a category (eg, the category selected from step 1710 of FIG. 17) may be displayed at step 1806. The displayed reference elements may include only those that satisfy the set of videos identified in step 1804. The user can then continue to change the set of videos based on the strategies described with respect to flow diagram 1700.

The foregoing describes systems and methods for obtaining, categorizing, and delivering online media content using an interactive media guidance application. The above-described embodiments of the present invention are provided for the purpose of illustration and not limitation.

Claims (1)

A method for providing guidance for videos on the internet,
Accessing the internet sites to identify videos provided by a plurality of internet sites;
Storing metadata for each of the identified videos from the Internet sites;
Associating the metadata for each of the identified videos with guide application data from a guide application database;
Selecting a subset of the videos; And
Generating a display indicative of each video of the identified subset of videos to a user, wherein the display includes guiding application data associated with each displayed video.
The method for providing guidance for videos on the Internet comprising a.

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