Media fingerprinting for content determination and retrieval

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9264785-B2
Application number	US-75297910-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 1, 2010
Priority date	Apr 1, 2010
Publication date	Feb 16, 2016
Grant date	Feb 16, 2016

Abstract

Audio fingerprinting and other media matching technologies can be used to identify broadcast media, such as television shows and radio broadcasts. A user device can record image, audio, and/or video information and upload information to a matching service that is able to use matching technology to identify the media and provide supplemental content or information to the user. The user might receive information identifying a product in an advertisement, identifying an actor on screen in a movie at a particular time, or other such information. In some embodiments, the user can receive access to a digital copy of the captured media, such as the ability to download a copy of a program in which a user expressed interest. Since a user might capture media information after the point of interest, a device can buffer a window of recently captured media in order to attempt to identify the intended media.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method of providing supplemental content to a user, comprising:
monitoring, by a server, a broadcast of media content;
separating the broadcast of media content into one or more segments of programs or commercials;
analyzing, using one or more processing devices, the one or more segments of broadcast media content to attempt to determine identifying information for each of the segments;
if the one or more segments have not been previously identified, storing the one or more segments of broadcast media content and the identifying information to at least one database;
if no identifying information is determined, storing the one or more segments of the broadcast media content to the at least one database for subsequent content matching analysis for a predetermined period of time or a number of attempts before being removed from the at least one database;
receiving a request including captured media file information, the captured media file information including a portion of at least one of audio and video data recorded from a video presentation;
comparing, using at least one processing device, the captured media file information to instances of stored media data and the one or more segments of the stored broadcast media content to attempt to locate a first match for the captured media file information, wherein the first match of an instance of stored media data corresponds to identified video content;
processing the captured media file information, using at least one processing device, to determine additional textual content if no match is located with one of the instances of stored media data or the one or more segments of stored broadcast media content, and comparing the additional textual content to instances of stored textual content to locate a second match for the captured media file information, wherein the second match of an instance of stored textual data corresponds to the identified video content;
determining, using at least one processing device, supplemental information for the identified video content if the first match or second match is located; and
providing at least one of the determined supplemental information or additional textual content in response to the received request.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the comparing is performed using at least one of an audio fingerprinting process or an image recognition process.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the captured media file information comprises a portion of at least one of audio and video data captured for a first period of time before a user action triggered generation of the request.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the captured media file information further comprises a portion of at least one of audio and video data captured for a second period of time after the user action triggered generation of the request.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the determined supplemental information is provided to a device other than a user device that recorded the captured media file information.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the determined supplemental information includes at least one of advertising information, product information, trivia information, purchasing information, download information, a media file, or an address or link to related content.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: prompting a user device when more than one potential match is determined.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein comparing includes determining a timestamp received with the request, and determining video content broadcast at substantially that time.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing information including at least one of the captured media file information or the determined additional information; and
if no match is located using the determined additional textual content with one of the instances of stored textual content:
analyzing the stored information to determine supplemental information to provide for a future request that matches the stored information; and
including the stored information in the instances of stored media data.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more segments of the broadcast media content correspond to advertisements between program segments.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the determined supplemental information includes at least one of identities of actors or locations included in a program.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the request includes a geographic location, and wherein the geographic location is used in comparing the captured media file information to the one or more segments of the broadcast media content.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the media content comprises audio and video data.

14. A system for providing supplemental content to a user, comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to:
monitor a broadcast of media content;
separate the broadcast of media content into one or more segments of programs or commercials;
analyze the one or more segments of broadcast media content to attempt to determine identifying information for each of the segments;
if the one or more segments have not been previously identified, store the one or more segments of broadcast media content and the identifying information to at least one database;
if no identifying information is determined, store the one or more segments of the broadcast media content to the at least one database for subsequent content matching analysis for a predetermined period of time or a number of attempts before being removed from the at least one database;
receive a request including captured media file information, the captured media file information including a portion of at least one of audio and video data recorded from a video presentation;
compare the captured media file information to instances of stored media data and the one or more segments of the stored broadcast media content to attempt to locate a first match for the captured media file information, wherein the first match of an instance of stored media data or stored broadcast media content corresponds to identified video content;
process the captured media file information to determine additional textual content if no match is located with one of the instances of stored media data or the one or more segments of stored broadcast media content, and compare the additional textual content to instances of stored textual content to locate a second match for the captured media file information, wherein the second match of an instance of stored textual data corresponds to the identified video content;
determine supplemental information for the identified video content if the first match or the second match is located; and
provide at least one of the determined supplemental information or additional textual content in response to the received request.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the captured media file information is compared to the instances of stored media data using at least one of an audio fingerprinting process or an image recognition process.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the determined supplemental information includes at least one of advertising information, product information, trivia information, purchasing information

Assignees

• Mallinson Dominic S
• Sony Computer Entertainment Inc

Inventors

• Mallinson Dominic S

Classifications

• H04N21/2225

  Local VOD servers · CPC title

• G06F16/43

  Querying · CPC title

• G06F3/04847

  Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials · CPC title

• G06F16/9038

  Presentation of query results · CPC title

• G06F16/783

  using metadata automatically derived from the content · CPC title