System and method to create a media content summary based on viewer annotations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10313750-B2
Application number	US-201414284991-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 22, 2014
Priority date	Mar 31, 2009
Publication date	Jun 4, 2019
Grant date	Jun 4, 2019

Abstract

A method includes receiving, at a media server, a request to create a media content summary. The request includes a user-specified criterion. The method also includes generating resized segments by automatically changing a size of each of one or more segments of media content until a total size of the resized segments satisfies the user-specified criterion and including the resized segments in the media content summary.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, at a media server from a user device, a request to create a media content summary, wherein the request includes a user-specified criterion;
identifying, by the media server, segments of media content based on annotation data, wherein the annotation data includes annotations associated with the segments, wherein a subset of the annotations indicate a content type associated with a corresponding segment of the segments, and wherein a particular segment of the segments is identified based on a number of corresponding annotations and based on a particular content type indicated by the subset of the annotations;
selecting particular segments of the segments of media content based on a number of annotations associated with each of the segments;
generating, by the media server, resized segments by changing a size of one or more of the particular segments until a total size of the resized segments satisfies the user-specified criterion;
generating, by the media server, the media content summary including the resized segments; and
transmitting the media content summary to the user device from the media server, wherein a total size of the media content summary is less than a total size of the media content.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user-specified criterion is a time period and wherein changing the size of one or more of the segments comprises identifying a starting position and an ending position of a plurality of the segments such that the resized segments are playable by a media device within the time period.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular segments include a first particular segment, the first particular segment having a highest number of associated annotations among the segments.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein changing a size of one or more of the segments includes changing a starting position of a first segment, changing an ending position of the first segment, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each annotation of the annotations is generated by a particular user during playback of a corresponding segment.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the segments includes comparing corresponding content types of each portion of the media content to the user-specified criterion, wherein a particular portion having a second particular content type matching the user-specified criterion is identified as a second particular segment of the media content, and wherein the segments include the second particular segment.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the resized segments includes reducing a size of a first particular segment of the particular segments.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing, at a database, the annotations and a particular timestamp associated with each annotation, wherein the particular timestamp indicates when the annotation was created with reference to the media content.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the annotations comprise a facial expression, a hand gesture, and an emoticon selection or a combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving input indicating a skip function after sending a portion of the media content summary to the user device; and
sending a next resized segment identified by the media content summary to the user device in response to receiving the input indicating the skip function.

11. A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a user device, a request to create a media content summary, wherein the request includes a user-specified criterion;
identifying segments of the media content based on annotation data, wherein the annotation data includes annotations associated with the segments, wherein a subset of the annotations indicate a content type associated with a corresponding segment of the segments, and wherein a particular segment of the segments is identified based on a number of corresponding annotations and based on a particular content type indicated by the subset of the annotations;
selecting particular segments of the segments of media content based on a number of annotations associated with each of the segments;
generating resized segments by changing a size of one or more of the particular segments until a total size of the resized segments satisfies the user-specified criterion;
generating the media content summary including the resized segments; and
transmitting the media content summary to the user device, wherein a total size of the media content summary is less than a total size of the media content.

12. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining numerical weights to apply to the annotation data; and
applying the numerical weights to the annotation data.

13. The computer-readable storage device of claim 12 , wherein the numerical weights are based on a second set of annotation data associated with the media content, and wherein the second set of annotation data comprises annotations that are associated with experts in a genre of the media content.

14. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise generating genre-specific response values associated with each of the segments.

15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise storing, at a database, the annotations and a particular timestamp associated with a particular corresponding annotation, wherein the particular timestamp indicates when the particular corresponding annotation was created with reference to the media content.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11 , wherein the annotation data comprises annotations associated with viewers having a particular expertise in a particular genre of the media content.

17. A system, comprising:
a processor;
an input interface configured to receive a request to generate a media content summary from a user device, wherein the request includes a user-specified criterion;
a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:
identify segments of the media content based on annotation data, wherein the annotation data includes annotations associated with the segments, wherein a subset of the annotations indicate a content type associated with a corresponding segment of the segments, and wherein a particular segment of the segments is identified based on a number of corresponding annotations and based on a particular content type indicated by the subset of the annotations;
select particular segments of the segments of media content based on a number of annotations associated with each of the segments;
generate resized segments by changing a size of one or more of the particular segments until a total size of the resized segments satisfies the user-specified criterion; and
generate the media content summary including the particular segments; and

an output interface configured to transmit the media content summary to the user device, wherein a total size of the media content summary is less than a total size of the media content.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to store, at a database, the annotations and a plurality of timestamps, each timestamp corresponding to a particular annotation, wherein each timestamp of the plurality of timestamps indicates a different time, and where

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Amento Brian
• Nathan Mukesh
• Stead Larry

Classifications

• H04N21/25866

  Management of end-user data (customer care in data networks H04L41/5077) · CPC title

• H04N21/6582

  Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number (arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38) · CPC title

• H04N21/8549

  Creating video summaries, e.g. movie trailer {(retrieval in video databases by using presentations in form of a video summary G06F16/739)} · CPC title

• H04N21/4667

  Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections · CPC title

• H04N21/475

  End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data · CPC title