Method and apparatus for adapting a presentation of media content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9560406-B2
Application number	US-84000310-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 20, 2010
Priority date	Jul 20, 2010
Publication date	Jan 31, 2017
Grant date	Jan 31, 2017

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, identifying a stereoscopic preference from a user profile associated with a user of a viewing apparatus, receiving a stereoscopic media program, generating an adapted media program by adapting one or more presentation aspects of the stereoscopic media program according to the stereoscopic preference, and presenting at a presentation device the adapted media program according to a time-division multiplexing or space-division multiplexing scheme for viewing by way of the viewing apparatus. Other embodiments are disclosed and contemplated.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A media processor, comprising:
a memory to store instructions; and
a controller coupled to the memory, wherein execution of the instructions causes the controller to perform operations comprising:
assigning a first wearable viewing apparatus to a first periodic time slot;
assigning a second wearable viewing apparatus to a second periodic time slot;
detecting a first identity of a first user of the first wearable viewing apparatus according to first data provided by the first wearable viewing apparatus, the first wearable viewing apparatus comprising a first biometric reader for obtaining the first data;
detecting a second identity of a second user of the second wearable viewing apparatus according to second data provided by the second wearable viewing apparatus, the second wearable viewing apparatus comprising a second biometric reader for obtaining the second data;
retrieving first user preferences from a first user profile associated with the first user of the first wearable viewing apparatus according to the first identity;
retrieving second user preferences from a second user profile associated with the second user of the second wearable viewing apparatus according to the second identity;
detecting first and second positions respectively of the first and second wearable viewing apparatus;
receiving first and second stereoscopic media programs from a multimedia system, wherein the first and second stereoscopic media programs respectively have first and second viewing perspectives corresponding to the first and second positions, and wherein the first and second stereoscopic media programs comprise a same scene captured at different angles to provide the first and second viewing perspectives;
generating a first adapted media program by utilizing transcoding to adapt a presentation aspect of the first stereoscopic media program to conform to the first user preferences;
generating a second adapted media program by adapting a presentation aspect of the second stereoscopic media program to conform to the second user preferences;
causing a presentation device to present the first adapted media program during the first periodic time slot; and
causing the presentation device to present the second adapted media program during the second periodic time slot.

2. The media processor of claim 1 , wherein the media processor corresponds to a set-top box, a digital video recorder, or a combination thereof.

3. The media processor of claim 1 , wherein the detecting the first identity of the first user according to the first data and retrieving the first user preferences comprises:
receiving a first identification of the first user from the first wearable viewing apparatus;
identifying the first user profile according to the first identification of the first user;
wherein detecting the second identity of the second user according to the second data and retrieving the second user preferences comprises:
receiving a second identification of the second user from the second wearable viewing apparatus; and
identifying the second user profile according to the second identification of the second user.

4. The media processor of claim 3 , wherein the first wearable viewing apparatus comprises a first user interface to enable identification of the first user, and wherein the second wearable viewing apparatus comprises a second user interface to enable identification of the second user.

5. The media processor of claim 4 , wherein the first biometric reader and the second biometric reader each comprise a fingerprint reader for identifying the first user and the second user respectively.

6. The media processor of claim 1 , wherein the first and second user preferences comprise a plurality of parental controls.

7. The media processor of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of parental controls comprise a plurality of settings selected from a group of settings consisting of a first metric to adjust an outward extension of stereoscopic images, a second metric to cause a transcoding of a stereoscopic format to a monoscopic format, a third metric to invoke a metric for adapting media programs according to an age setting of a user, a fourth metric to adjust a viewing time of media programs by the user, a fifth metric to limit viewings of media programs according to media program ratings, a sixth metric to define a time of day range for viewing media programs, and a seventh metric to define a media program channel preference.

8. The media processor of claim 1 , wherein the first wearable viewing apparatus and the second wearable viewing apparatus comprise shutter glasses, polarized glasses or combinations thereof.

9. The media processor of claim 1 , wherein the multimedia system comprises one of a cable TV network, a satellite TV network, or a multimedia portal.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
detecting a first identity of a first user of first viewing glasses according to first data provided by the first viewing glasses, the first viewing glasses comprising a first biometric reader for obtaining the first data;
detecting a second identity of a second user of second viewing glasses according to second data provided by the second viewing glasses, the second viewing glasses comprising a second biometric reader for obtaining the second data;
identifying according to the first identity a first stereoscopic preference from a first user profile associated with the first user of the first viewing glasses;
identifying according to the second identity a second stereoscopic preference from a second user profile associated with the second user of the second viewing glasses;
detecting first and second positions respectively of the first and second viewing glasses;
receiving first and second stereoscopic media programs from a multimedia system, wherein the first and second stereoscopic media programs respectively have first and second viewing perspectives corresponding to the first and second positions, and wherein the first and second stereoscopic media programs comprise a same scene captured at different angles to provide the first and second viewing perspectives;
generating a first adapted media program by modifying a presentation aspect of the first stereoscopic media program according to the first stereoscopic preference;
generating a second adapted media program by modifying a presentation aspect of the second stereoscopic media program according to the second stereoscopic preference;
causing a presentation device to present the first adapted media program according to a time-division multiplexing or space-division multiplexing scheme; and
causing the presentation device to present the second adapted media program according to the time-division multiplexing or space-division multiplexing scheme;
wherein the first viewing glasses are adapted to enable a viewing of the first adapted media program and disable a viewing of the second adapted media program; and
wherein the second viewing glasses are adapted to enable a viewing of the second adapted media program and disable a viewing of the first adapted media program.

11. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the first adapted media program is generated using transcoding.

12. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the first stereoscopic preference defines an adjustment in a presentation of the first media program to accommodate a viewing disability of the first user.

13. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the oper

Assignees

• Meuninck Troy C
• Brown William A
• Morris Nadia
• Bedingfield Sr James Carlton
• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Meuninck Troy C
• Brown William A
• Morris Nadia
• Bedingfield Sr James Carlton

Classifications

• H04N13/398

  Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof · CPC title

• H04N13/356

  having separate monoscopic and stereoscopic modes · CPC title

• H04N13/341

  using temporal multiplexing · CPC title

• H04N13/302

  for viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays · CPC title

• H04N13/337

  using polarisation multiplexing · CPC title