Method and apparatus for presenting media programs

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9769532-B2
Application number	US-201615157850-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2016
Priority date	Jun 25, 2008
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a controller to collect data indicative of temporal actions initiated by a group of users during presenting a media program. The data indicative of the temporal actions are collected in a collective metadata archive. Portions of the media program are identified based on metadata for which a number of occurrences of the temporal actions exceeds a threshold number of occurrences. A compacted presentation of the portions of the media program is prepared based on the metadata. The compacted presentation includes the portions of the media program arranged consecutively. Other embodiments are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
presenting, by a processing system comprising a processor, media content at equipment of a plurality of users via a graphical user interface provided at each equipment of the plurality of users;
collecting, by the processing system, data indicative of a plurality of temporal actions initiated by the equipment of the plurality of users during the presentation of the media content through the graphical user interface, wherein the data indicative of the plurality of temporal actions are collected in a collective metadata archive of temporal actions corresponding to the media content;
presenting, by the processing system, the plurality of temporal actions in the graphical user interface at the equipment of the plurality of users;
identifying, by the processing system, a plurality of portions of the media content based on the collective metadata archive for which a number of occurrences of the plurality of temporal actions exceeds a threshold number; and
generating, by the processing system, a compacted presentation of the media content based on the collective metadata archive, wherein the compacted presentation comprises the plurality of portions of the media content for which the number of occurrences of the plurality of temporal actions initiated by the equipment of the plurality of users exceeds the threshold number, wherein the plurality of portions of the media content is arranged consecutively, wherein a length of the compacted presentation is determined based on the threshold number.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the equipment of a first user of the plurality of users initiates the presentation of the media content with the presentation of the media content by equipment of a second user of the plurality of users, and further comprising:
creating, by the processing system, a collaborative temporal action;
creating, by the processing system, a symbolic overlay through the graphical user interface; and
combining, by the processing system, in a time line the presentation of the media content, the symbolic overlay and the collaborative temporal action.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising presenting to the equipment of a second user of the plurality of users a plurality of temporal occurrences of the plurality of temporal actions initiated by the equipment of the first user.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
detecting a selection by the equipment of the first user of a temporal occurrence of the plurality of temporal occurrences; and
presenting to the equipment of the first user, a portion of the media content associated with the temporal occurrence.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating, by the processing system, metadata of the collective metadata archive for each temporal action of the plurality of temporal actions initiated by the equipment of the plurality of users, wherein the plurality of temporal actions are selected from a group consisting essentially of a textual commentary, an audio commentary, an emotional reaction, a gesture, an expression, a sketch, a vote, and combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the processing system, from equipment of a first user of the plurality of users, threshold information indicative of the threshold number of the plurality of temporal actions.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media content is streamed to a proxy server from a media communication system, and wherein the media communication system is selected from a group consisting essentially of a social networking portal, an internet protocol television communication system, a satellite television communication system and a cable television communication system.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, by the processing system, a behavioral profile for a first user of the plurality of users based on a plurality of temporal actions of the first user; and
identifying, by the processing system, additional media content for the first user based on an area of interest identified in the behavioral profile for the first user.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the generating of the compacted presentation of the media content comprises:
extracting, by the system, a plurality of the portions of the media content, wherein each portion of the plurality of the portions of the media content is associated with the behavioral profile and a corresponding temporal occurrence of the plurality of temporal actions; and
generating, by the system, the compacted presentation of the media content by concatenating the plurality of portions consecutively according to a time line.

10. A system, comprising:
a processing system including a processor; and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
presenting a media program at equipment of a first user and a second user as a collaborative presentation via a graphical user interface provided at each equipment of the first user and the second user;
determining action data indicative of a plurality of temporal actions initiated by the equipment of the first user and the second user to determine a plurality of collected temporal actions through the graphical user interface, wherein the action data comprises a collective metadata archive of temporal actions corresponding to a portion of the media program being selected by the equipment of the first user and the second user;
presenting the plurality of temporal actions in the graphical user interface at the equipment of the first user and the second user;
generating, by the processing system, a behavioral profile for the first user based on the plurality of temporal actions of the first user;
identifying a plurality of portions of the media program based on an area of interest identified in the behavioral profile for the first user and based on the collective metadata archive for which the temporal actions for a portion of the plurality of the portions exceeds a threshold number of collected temporal actions as identified media portions; and
preparing a compacted presentation of the media program based on the plurality of portions of the media program, wherein the plurality of portions of the media program is arranged consecutively, wherein a length of the compacted presentation is determined according to the threshold number.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving from one of the equipment of the first user and the equipment of the second user, threshold information indicative of the threshold number of collected temporal actions for identifying portions of the media program with a concentration of temporal actions.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise presenting the media program at the equipment of the first user and the second user at a corresponding time initiated by the first user and the second user through the graphical user interface.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the equipment of the first user and the second user initiates the collaborative presentation of the media program, and wherein the operations further comprise:
generating a collaborative temporal action;
generating a collaborative symbolic overlay through the graphical user interface; and
combining in a timeline the collaborative presentation of the media program, the collaborative symbolic overlay, and the collaborative temporal action.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise identifying, by the processing system, additional med

Assignees

• At&T Intellectual Property Ii Lp
• At & T Ip Ii Lp

Inventors

• Amento Brian
• Stead Larry
• Abella Alicia

Classifications

• H04N21/2225

  Local VOD servers · CPC title

• H04N21/44012

  involving rendering scenes according to scene graphs, e.g. MPEG-4 scene graphs · CPC title

• H04L65/1016

  IP multimedia subsystem [IMS] · CPC title

• H04N21/2743

  Video hosting of uploaded data from client · CPC title

• H04N21/435

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