Audio assistance during trick play operations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11523183-B2
Application number	US-202017093299-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2020
Priority date	Nov 9, 2020
Publication date	Dec 6, 2022
Grant date	Dec 6, 2022

Abstract

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are described for providing audio assistance during trick play. Users, for example, visually-impaired users, may enable audio assistance features for trick play operations and customize audio assistance settings. The audio assistance may comprise outputting one or more audio cues during trick play. The audio cues may be associated with one or more types of scenes may indicate the progress of a trick play content item. The audio cues may also indicate automatic skipping of an objectionable scene or commercial and the output of a next scene.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, first input associating one or more audio cues with one or more types of trick play;
causing, based on a trick play command received during output of a content item, output of a trick play content item corresponding to a portion of the content item;
determining, based on the first input, an audio cue, of the one or more audio cues, associated with progress of the trick play content item;
determining a boundary of the portion of the content item;
determining, based on a user reaction time and the determined boundary, a time for output of the determined audio cue; and
causing, during the output of the trick play content item and at the determined time, the output of the determined audio cue.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the boundary of the portion of the content item comprises determining, based on metadata associated with the portion of the content item, the boundary of the portion of the content item.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the content item is a scene or a commercial within the content item.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined audio cue indicates an approaching end of the trick play content item.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving second input associating the one or more audio cues with one or more types of scenes within a plurality of content items; and
determining, based on the trick play command received during the output of the content item, a type of a current scene within the content item,
wherein the determining the audio cue comprises determining, based on the type of the current scene and the second input, the audio cue, of the one or more audio cues.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trick play command is received from a visually-impaired user.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the causing the output of the determined audio cue comprises causing, before a start of a next portion of the content item, the output of the determined audio cue.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the causing output of the trick play content item comprises causing, based on the trick play command, output, prior to output of the trick play content item, of a second trick play content item corresponding to a second portion of the content item preceding the portion of the content item.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the boundary of the portion of the content item is based on a user preference to avoid watching one or more types of content.

10. An apparatus comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
receive first input associating one or more audio cues with one or more types of trick play;
cause, based on a trick play command received during output of a content item, output of a trick play content item corresponding to a portion of the content item;
determine, based on the first input, an audio cue, of the one or more audio cues, associated with progress of the trick play content item;
determine a boundary of the portion of the content item;
determine, based on a user reaction time and the determined boundary, a time for output of the determined audio cue; and
cause, during the output of the trick play content item and at the determined time, the output of the determined audio cue.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
determine the boundary of the portion of the content item by determining, based on metadata associated with the portion of the content item, the boundary of the portion of the content item.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the portion of the content item is a scene or a commercial within the content item.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the determined audio cue indicates an approaching end of the trick play content item.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
receive second input associating the one or more audio cues with one or more types of scenes within a plurality of content items;
determine, based on the trick play command received during the output of the content item, a type of a current scene within the content item; and
determine the audio cue by determining, based on the type of the current scene and the second input, the audio cue, of the one or more audio cues.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the trick play command is received from a visually-impaired user.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
cause output of the determined audio cue by causing, before a start of a next portion of the content item, the output of the determined audio cue.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
cause output of the trick play content item by causing, based on the trick play command, output, prior to output of the trick play content item, of a second trick play content item corresponding to a second portion of the content item preceding the portion of the content item.

18. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
determine the boundary of the portion of the content item by determining, based on a user preference to avoid watching one or more types of content, the boundary of the portion of the content item.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause:
receiving first input associating one or more audio cues with one or more types of trick play;
causing, based on a trick play command received during output of a content item, output of a trick play content item corresponding to a portion of the content item;
determining, based on the first input, an audio cue, of the one or more audio cues, associated with progress of the trick play content item;
determining a boundary of the portion of the content item;
determining, based on a user reaction time and the determined boundary, a time for output of the determined audio cue; and
causing, during the output of the trick play content item and at the determined time, the output of the determined audio cue.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause:
the determining the boundary of the portion of the content item by causing determining, based on metadata associated with the portion of the content item, the boundary of the portion of the content item.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the portion of the content item is a scene or a commercial within the content item.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the determined audio cue indicates an approaching end of the trick play content item.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause:
receiving second input associating the one or more audio cues with one or more types of scenes within a plurality of content items;
determining, based on the trick play command received during the output of the content item, a type of a current scene within the content

Assignees

• Comcast Cable Comm Llc

Inventors

• Gray Brian

Classifications

• H04N21/435

  Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream · CPC title

• H04N21/47217

  for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks (specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312) · CPC title

• H04N21/4394

  involving operations for analysing the audio stream, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in audio streams (arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of audio in broadcast systems H04H60/58) · CPC title

• H04N21/6587

  Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection · CPC title

• H04N21/4542 Primary

  Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes · CPC title