Media Guide User Interface Systems and Methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016127791-A1
Application number	US-201514675568-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 31, 2015
Priority date	Oct 30, 2014
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Exemplary systems and methods provide a media guide graphical user interface having distinct views dedicated to presenting different sets of information about media content distributed by way of a media service, such as a first view dedicated to presenting information about media programs scheduled for distribution by way of a media service during one or more time slots that overlap a current time and a second view dedicated to presenting information about media programs scheduled for distribution by way of the media service during one or more time slots that are temporally subsequent to the one or more time slots that overlap the current time. In certain examples, a requested view of the media guide graphical user interface is dynamically populated with a select set of categories and category-specific media programs based on one or more predefined selection factors.

First claim

1 . A method comprising:
detecting, by a media guide user interface system, a request for a media guide graphical user interface; and providing, by the media guide user interface system in response to the request, the media guide graphical user interface for display on a display screen of a display device, the media guide graphical user interface comprising a menu of selectable menu options that include
a first menu option selectable to access a first view of the media guide graphical user interface, the first view of the media guide graphical user interface dedicated to presenting information about media programs within a first set of media programs scheduled for distribution by way of a media service during one or more time slots that overlap a current time, the information about each of the media programs within the first set of media programs presented as an entry of at least one media category of a first set of media categories included in the first view of the media guide graphical user interface, the first set of media categories dynamically selected from an overall set of predefined media categories by the media guide user interface system when the first view of the media guide graphical user interface is accessed, and
a second menu option selectable to access a second view of the media guide graphical user interface, the second view of the media guide graphical user interface dedicated to presenting information about media programs within a second set of media programs scheduled for distribution by way of the media service during one or more time slots that are temporally subsequent to the one or more time slots that overlap the current time, the information about each of the media programs within the second set of media programs presented as an entry of at least one media category of a second set of media categories included in the second view of the media guide graphical user interface, the second set of media categories dynamically selected from the overall set of predefined media categories by the media guide user interface system when the second view of the media guide graphical user interface is accessed.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting, by the media guide user interface system, a user selection of the first menu option; and providing, by the media guide user interface system in response to the detecting of the user selection of the first menu option, the first view of the media guide graphical user interface for display on the display screen; detecting, by the media guide user interface system while the first view of the media guide graphical user interface is displayed on the display screen, a user selection of the second menu option; and providing, by the media guide user interface system in response to the detecting of the user selection of the second menu option, the second view of the media guide graphical user interface for display on the display screen, the display of the second view of the media guide graphical user interface replacing the display of the first view of the media guide graphical user interface on the display screen.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting, by the media guide user interface system, a user selection of the first menu option; and providing, by the media guide user interface system in response to the detecting of the user selection of the first menu option, the first view of the media guide graphical user interface for display on the display screen, the providing of the first view of the media guide graphical user interface for display comprising determining, from a set of media guide data that represents a scheduled distribution of media programs by way of a media service, a subset of media guide data that represents only media programs scheduled for distribution by way of the media service during the one or more time slots that overlap the current time, selecting, based on one or more predefined media category selection factors, the first set of media categories for inclusion in the first view of the media guide graphical user interface, selecting, from the media programs within the first set of media programs scheduled for distribution by way of the media service during the one or more time slots that overlap the current time, a category-specific set of media programs for inclusion in each media category included in the first set of media categories, populating the first view of the media guide graphical user interface with user interface content that represents the first set of media categories and the category-specific set of media programs selected for inclusion in each media category included in the first set of media categories, and providing the populated first view of the media guide graphical user interface for display on the display screen of the display device.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more predefined media category selection factors comprise at least one of a time factor, a media program factor, an end-user factor, and a user community factor.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the selecting of the first set of media categories for inclusion in the first view of the media guide graphical user interface comprises identifying the first set of media categories and prioritizing the media categories included in the identified first set of media categories for display arrangement based on the one or more predefined media category selection factors.

6 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
detecting that a passage of time has caused the current time to move across a time slot boundary such that a new current time is not overlapped by the same one more time slots that overlap the current time; updating, in response to the detecting that the passage of time has caused the current time to move the time slot boundary, the first view of the media guide graphical user interface by determining, from the set of media guide data that represents the scheduled distribution of media programs by way of the media service, a new subset of media guide data that represents media programs scheduled for distribution by way of the media service during one or more time slots that overlap the new current time, selecting, based on the one or more predefined media category selection factors, a new set of media categories for inclusion in the first view of the media guide graphical user interface, selecting, from the media programs scheduled for distribution by way of the media service during the one or more time slots that overlap the new current time, a new category-specific set of media programs for inclusion in each media category included in the new set of media categories, populating the first view of the media guide graphical user interface with user interface content that represents the new set of media categories and the new category-specific set of media programs selected for inclusion in each media category included in the new set of media categories, and providing the populated first view of the media guide graphical user interface for display on the display screen of the display device.

7 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
detecting that a passage of time has caused the current time to move across a time slot boundary such that a new current time is not overlapped by the same one more time slots that overlap the current time; updating, in response to the detecting that the passage of time has caused the current time to move across the time slot boundary, the first view of the media guide graphical user interface based on the new current time, the updating comprising preventing a removal, from the updated first view of the media guide graphical user interface, of at least one of a highlighted media category included in the set of media

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Roberts Brian F
• Higa George M
• Lemus Anthony

Classifications

• H04N21/4821 Primary

  using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time · CPC title

• H04N21/4312 Primary

  involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations · CPC title

• H04N21/47205

  for manipulating displayed content, e.g. interacting with MPEG-4 objects, editing locally · CPC title

• H04N21/4826

  using recommendation lists, e.g. of programmes or channels sorted out according to their score · CPC title

• H04N21/4667

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