Methods and apparatus to provide an electronic agent

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9940626-B2
Application number	US-42620606-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2006
Priority date	Jun 23, 2006
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to provide an electronic agent are disclosed. An example method includes receiving an interactive program via a network at a first information presenting device, accessing a list of keywords associated with the interactive program via the network, accessing a first database using at least one of the keywords, and presenting an electronic agent on the first information presenting device to at least one of present information retrieved from the first database or offer to retrieve information identified via the first database.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
identifying, by executing an instruction with a processor, an interactive media program received at an information presenting device;
accessing, by executing an instruction with the processor, a list of keywords associated with the interactive media program via a network, the keywords associated with the interactive media program by a provider of the interactive media program;
identifying, by executing an instruction with the processor, a user identifier of a user of the information presenting device;
accessing user profile information associated with the user identifier;
automatically accessing, by executing an instruction with the processor, a first database using at least one of the keywords to retrieve at least two advertisements associated with the interactive media program;
automatically determining, by executing an instruction with the processor, a selected advertisement of the at least two advertisements based on a proximity of a business represented in the selected advertisement to a location indicated in the user profile information;
generating, by executing an instruction with the processor, an electronic agent including a character with a speech bubble, the speech bubble including text to at least one of present the selected advertisement determined from the first database or offer to retrieve the selected advertisement identified via the first database; and
presenting the electronic agent overlaid on the interactive media program presented on the information presenting device, the presenting of the electronic agent including presenting spoken audio of the text displayed in the speech bubble.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the interactive media program is an internet protocol television program.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 , further including responding to an acceptance of the offer by retrieving the selected advertisement.

4. The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the selected advertisement is retrieved from the first database.

5. The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the selected advertisement is retrieved from a second database different from the first database.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the presenting of the electronic agent includes at least one of providing a visual presentation of the selected advertisement retrieved from the first database or providing an audible presentation of the selected advertisement retrieved from the first database.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the information retrieved from the first database includes at least one of information about an advertiser associated with the interactive media program, information about a location depicted in the interactive media program, or information about a character depicted in the interactive media program.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 , further including:
joining an online chat session associated with the interactive media program; and
outputting an interactive presentation of the chat session.

9. The method as defined in claim 8 , wherein:
the chat session enables a first participant and a second participant consuming the interactive media program to interact; and
the first participant is identified on a buddy list of the second participant.

10. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the accessing of the first database is performed by the information presenting device.

11. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the accessing of the first database is performed by sending a request for a query to be executed on the first database.

12. A tangible machine-readable storage device excluding propagating signals, and comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to perform operations comprising:
identifying an interactive media program received at an information presenting device;
accessing a list of keywords associated with the interactive media program via a network, the keywords associated with the interactive media program by a provider of the interactive media program;
identifying a user identifier of a user of the information presenting device;
accessing user profile information associated with the user identifier;
automatically accessing a first database using at least one of the keywords to retrieve at least two advertisements associated with the interactive media program;
automatically determining a selected advertisement of the at least two advertisements based on a proximity of a business represented in the selected advertisement to a location indicated in the user profile information;
generating an electronic agent including a character with a speech bubble, the speech bubble including text to at least one of present the selected advertisement determined from the first database or offer to retrieve the selected advertisement determined via the first database; and
presenting the electronic agent on the information presenting device as an overlay on top of the interactive media program, the presenting of the electronic agent including presenting spoken audio of the text displayed in the speech bubble.

13. The tangible machine-readable storage device as defined in claim 12 , wherein the interactive media program is an internet protocol television program.

14. The tangible machine-readable storage device as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the machine to respond to an acceptance of the offer by retrieving the selected advertisement.

15. The tangible machine-readable storage device as defined in claim 14 , wherein the selected advertisement is retrieved from the first database.

16. The tangible machine-readable storage device as defined in claim 14 , wherein the selected advertisement is retrieved from a second database different from the first database.

17. The tangible machine-readable storage device as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to present the electronic agent by at least one of providing a visual presentation of the selected advertisement retrieved from the first database or providing an audible presentation of the selected advertisement retrieved from the first database.

18. The tangible machine-readable storage device as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the machine to:
join an online chat session associated with the interactive media program; and
output an interactive presentation of the chat session.

19. The tangible machine-readable storage device as defined in claim 18 , wherein:
the chat session enables a first participant and a second participant consuming the interactive media program to interact; and
the first participant is identified on a buddy list of the second participant.

20. A tangible machine-readable storage disk excluding propagating signals, and comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to perform operations including:
identifying an interactive media program transmitted to an information presenting device;
associating a list of keywords with the interactive media program;
receiving a request for information associated with the list of keywords from the information presenting device;
identifying a user identifier of a user of the information presenting device;
obtaining user profile information associated with the user identifier;
automatically accessing a database using at least one of the keywords to retrieve at least two advertisements associated with the interactive media program;
automatically determining a selected advert

Assignees

• Dunmire David
• Novack Brian
• Keith Chad C
• Clark Jeff
• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Dunmire David
• Novack Brian
• Keith Chad C
• Clark Jeff

Classifications

• H04N21/8106

  involving special audio data, e.g. different tracks for different languages · CPC title

• G06Q30/0257

  User requested · CPC title

• H04N7/17318

  Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests · CPC title

• H04N21/478

  Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application · CPC title

• H04N21/4788

  communicating with other users, e.g. chatting {(arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104)} · CPC title