U.S. patent application number 14/292423 was filed with the patent office on 2014-09-18 for interactive product placement system and method therefor.
This patent application is currently assigned to Cinsay, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Cinsay, Inc.. Invention is credited to Christian Briggs, Delfino Galindo, JR., Freddy Knuth, Heath McBurnett.
Application Number | 20140282700 14/292423 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47114663 |
Filed Date | 2014-09-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140282700 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Briggs; Christian ; et
al. |
September 18, 2014 |
INTERACTIVE PRODUCT PLACEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD THEREFOR
Abstract
A method for presenting advertisements for commercial products
in video productions, whereby the commercial product is placed in
the video production as an element of the video production. A
viewer is enabled to interact with the video production to select
the product. Information is then displayed about the selected
product; and the viewer is enabled to purchase the selected
product.
Inventors: |
Briggs; Christian; (Newport
Coast, CA) ; McBurnett; Heath; (Aliso Viejo, CA)
; Galindo, JR.; Delfino; (Laguna Niguel, CA) ;
Knuth; Freddy; (Euless, TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Cinsay, Inc. |
Dallas |
TX |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Cinsay, Inc.
Dallas
TX
|
Family ID: |
47114663 |
Appl. No.: |
14/292423 |
Filed: |
May 30, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13762184 |
Feb 7, 2013 |
8549555 |
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14292423 |
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13605892 |
Sep 6, 2012 |
8533753 |
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13762184 |
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12363713 |
Jan 30, 2009 |
8312486 |
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13605892 |
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14042477 |
Sep 30, 2013 |
8782690 |
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12363713 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
725/32 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/435 20130101;
H04N 21/2542 20130101; H04N 21/812 20130101; H04N 21/8133 20130101;
H04N 21/8455 20130101; H04N 21/44222 20130101; H04N 21/26603
20130101; H04N 21/237 20130101; H04N 21/47815 20130101; H04N
21/4725 20130101; H04N 21/8545 20130101; H04N 21/858 20130101; H04N
21/4316 20130101; H04N 21/47205 20130101; H04N 21/4722 20130101;
H04N 21/2393 20130101; H04N 21/47217 20130101; H04N 21/8547
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
725/32 |
International
Class: |
H04N 21/254 20060101
H04N021/254; H04N 21/858 20060101 H04N021/858; H04N 21/478 20060101
H04N021/478; H04N 21/81 20060101 H04N021/81; H04N 21/266 20060101
H04N021/266; H04N 21/237 20060101 H04N021/237 |
Claims
1. A method for advertising for products in video productions, the
method comprising: displaying a video production; awaiting a cue
point trigger; upon receipt of a cue point trigger, generating and
transmitting a request for an ad, the request including a cue point
name and a video identification; receiving the requested ad; and
displaying the ad, the ad including a link for enabling a user to
interactively select the product and retrieve further information
about the product and options for purchasing the product.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the ad
further comprises placing the product in a timeline
advertisement.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the ad
further comprises embedding the product in a live overlay
advertisement.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of defining
at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and
motion of an ad element.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of defining
at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and
motion of an ad element stored in metadata and XML format and
packaged with the ad file.
6. A system for advertising for products in video productions, the
system comprising: a video server; an ad server; and an interactive
video player coupled to the video server and ad server, the video
player being effective for executing a computer program comprising:
computer program code for displaying a video production; computer
program code for awaiting a cue point trigger; computer program
code for upon receipt of a cue point trigger, generating and
transmitting a request for an ad, the request including a cue point
name and a video identification; computer program code for
receiving the requested ad; and computer program code for
displaying the ad, the ad including a link for enabling a user to
interactively select the product and retrieve further information
about the product and options for purchasing the product.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the computer program code for
displaying the ad further comprises computer program code for
placing the product in a timeline advertisement.
8. The system of claim 6, wherein the computer program code for
displaying the ad further comprises computer program code for
embedding the product in a live overlay advertisement.
9. The system of claim 6, further comprising an interactive video
editor, the video editor being effective for executing a computer
program comprising computer program code for displaying a video
production computer program code for defining at least one of
properties, interactive elements, visuals, and motion of an ad
element.
10. The system of claim 6, further comprising an interactive video
editor, the video editor being effective for executing a computer
program comprising computer program code for displaying a video
production computer program code for defining at least one of
properties, interactive elements, visuals, and motion of an ad
element stored in metadata and XML format and packaged with the ad
file.
11. A method for advertising for products in video productions, the
method comprising: placing the commercial product in the video
production as an element of the video production; enabling a viewer
to interact with video production select the product; displaying
information about the selected product; and enabling a viewer to
purchase the selected product.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of placing further
comprises placing the product in a timeline advertisement.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of placing further
comprises embedding the product in a live overlay
advertisement.
14. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of defining
at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and
motion of an ad element.
15. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of defining
at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and
motion of an ad element stored in metadata and XML format and
packaged with the ad file.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 61/024,829, filed Jan. 30, 2008, which application
is hereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention relates generally to interactive video
broadcasting, and, more particularly, to placement of products in
video broadcast for interactive purchase.
BACKGROUND
[0003] It is well-known that video may be broadcast or provided
through a number of media, such as television, the Internet, DVD,
and the like. To finance such video broadcast, commercial
advertisements are often placed in the video. Commercials, however,
require that the video be momentarily interrupted while the
commercial is displayed. Not only is that annoying to viewers, but
modern technology has developed digital video recorders (DVR's)
that allow video programs to be pre-recorded, and when viewed, to
fast-forward through commercials, thereby defeating the
effectiveness and, hence, value of commercials. When commercials
are de-valued, costs are not adequately covered, and as a result,
broadcast service quality suffers. In many cases, costs are made up
by charging viewers for the video service.
[0004] Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for
advertising commercial products in such a way that they are not
annoying and do not interrupt a video production, prompting a user
fast-forward through them.
SUMMARY
[0005] The present invention, accordingly, provides a method for
presenting advertisements for commercial products in video
productions, whereby the commercial product is placed in the video
production as an element of the video production. A viewer is
enabled to interact with the video production to select the
product. Information is displayed about the selected product; and
the viewer is enabled to purchase the selected product.
[0006] More specifically, the invention comprises a web-based rich
media software application allowing non-technical end-users the
ability to easily create full frame interactive media overlays into
the video production which has been encoded with pre-defined cue
points that request immersive full motion video interactive overlay
elements from an ad-server.
[0007] The cue points are utilized to trigger pre-defined
advertising events stored and indexed with metadata in an ad server
or other database. By way of example, an advertising event may
include the extraction of a single video frame or a series of
frames of the encoded video production, which in turn becomes the
interactive advertisement that is triggered by the pre-set cue
point and presented to the user as a seamless
advertising/entertainment experience.
[0008] Once the cue point triggers an event, the system calls the
specific advertisement into the video player and seamlessly
overlays the initial video production with the enhanced interactive
product ads. The ad is displayed for a predetermined life cycle,
such as 5-10 seconds. Once the life cycle of the ad expires, or the
ad is clicked or presented to the end user, the advertisement will
destroy itself, leaving the viewer with the impression that there
was never a break in the viewing experience.
[0009] In conjunction with the integrated overlay advertisements,
the process of the invention is supplemented with an information
and product integrated timeline residing under the video
production. At the triggered cue point, watermarked icons/logos
appear under the video production. Users can interact with the
icons to gamer more information about a particular character,
location, or advertisers at a specific point in the feature
presentation, employing the same aforementioned calls.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] For a more complete understanding of the present invention,
and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following
descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a high level block diagram of an interactive
product placement system embodying features of the present
invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 exemplifies a flow chart illustrating control logic
for implementing features of the system of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 3 exemplifies an application of an interactive video
editor embodying features of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 4 exemplifies an application of an interactive video
player embodying features of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 5 exemplifies a product placement timeline embodying
features of the present invention; and
[0016] FIG. 6 exemplifies an interactive product placement
embodying features of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] In the following discussion, numerous specific details are
set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present
invention. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art
that the present invention may be practiced without such specific
details. In other instances, well-known elements have been
illustrated in schematic or block diagram form in order not to
obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. Additionally,
for the most part, details concerning the Internet, HTTP, XML, PHP,
FLV, and the like have been omitted inasmuch as such details are
not considered necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the
present invention, and are considered to be within the skills of
persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.
[0018] It is noted that, unless indicated otherwise, all functions
described herein may be performed by a processor such as a
microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, an
application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic data
processor, a computer, or the like, in accordance with code, such
as program code, software, integrated circuits, and/or the like
that are coded to perform such functions. Furthermore, it is
considered that the design, development, and implementation details
of all such code would be apparent to a person having ordinary
skill in the art based upon a review of the present description of
the invention.
[0019] Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the reference numeral
100 generally designates an interactive product placement system
embodying features of the present invention. The system 100
includes a video server 104 and an ad (i.e., "advertisement")
server 106 coupled together via a communication information network
effective for video streaming, such as the Internet, 110. An
interactive video editor 102 is coupled via the Internet 110 to the
video server 104 and ad server 106 for creating immersive
interactive advertisements in conjunction with video productions
displayed by the video server. An interactive video player 108 is
coupled via the Internet 110 to the video server 104 and ad server
106 for displaying video productions from the video server 104 and
ads from the ad server 106 in accordance with principles of the
present invention.
[0020] FIG. 3 exemplifies an application of the interactive video
editor 102 for enabling non-technical ad representatives to create
an immersive interactive advertising experience for users. The
editor 102 defines the properties, interactive elements, visuals,
and motion of the ad element stored in metadata and XML format and
packaged with the ad file. The editor 102 is a rich media
application comprising tools, a user interface, and backend
connections to the ad server 106. The following lists, by way of
example and not limitation, some preferred features of the editor
102:
[0021] File: Open
[0022] Save: Save an iteration of video project file.
[0023] Export: Export in all applicable compiled final production
ready formats.
[0024] Properties: Set campaign name, lifespan and essential
metadata ad formats,
[0025] Assign Path: Create guideline to animate overlay object end
to end over.
[0026] Set Key: Assign animation key frame.
[0027] Four Corner Pin: Pin vector points to set start and end
frames over underlying video production. Corner Pin effect distorts
an image by repositioning each of its four corners. Use it to
stretch, shrink, skew, or twist an image or to simulate perspective
or movement that pivots from the edge of a layer
[0028] The interactive video editor 102 also enables layers to be
added to the video production. More specifically, an overlay
element allows users to see an underlying video preview. The first
layer on the bottom forms a base layer, and anything layered on top
of that at least partially obscures the layers underneath it.
[0029] Still further, the interactive video editor 102 includes a
tool kit, comprising the following:
[0030] Pen: freeform drawing tool used to define shape
[0031] Shape: Set of predefined shapes to use as interactive
element
[0032] Paint: Brush tool allowing more freeform element
creation
[0033] Erase: Remove excess erase tool allows you to remove
portions of shapes or lines with precision. You can change the size
and shape of the eraser as well as the portions of any shape you
want to erase by adjusting the options
[0034] FIG. 4 exemplifies an application of the interactive video
player 108 configured with the capabilities to read, display, and
interact with code supplied by the corresponding application of the
interactive video editor 102. The player 108 is a rich media
application comprising tools, a user interface, and backend
connections to the ad server 106.
[0035] As shown in FIG. 4, the video player 108 advertises a card
in an overlay as it moves along a motion path. Also shown are an ad
icon/logo for the card in a Timeline under the video display, and
under the ad icon/logo, a calling cue point corresponding to a
respective icon/logo above it. Optionally, under the calling cue
points are episodes of the video production being watched. While
the timeline is shown positioned beneath the video production, it
may be positioned along the top, left, or right margins of the
video production.
[0036] FIG. 2 is a flow chart exemplifying steps in the operation
of the invention. In step 202 operation begins, and in step 204 a
request is generated by the video player 108 (per input from a
user) for a video production and transmitted to the video server
104. In step 206, the video server 104 receives the request for a
video production and, in step 208, the video server 104 locates the
video production and transmits it to the video player 108. In step
212, the video player 108 begins playing the video production until
a cue point is triggered in step 214. Upon triggering the cue
point, execution proceeds to step 216 wherein the video player
generates and transmits to the ad server 106 a request via HTTP
POST requests for an ad, and includes with the request a cue point
name and video ID into which the ad will be placed. The following
exemplifies a request generated at step 216:
TABLE-US-00001 FLVPlayback.addEventListener(Video.CuePoint,
function( ) { Var request = new
URLRequest("filename.php?func=advertisment&movie_id="+movie_id+
"&cue_point=" + this.cuePointName); }
[0037] In step 218, the ad server 106 receives the ad request and,
in step 220, the ad server 106 locates the requested ad and
transmits the ad to the video player 108. The ad requests are made
form the player application via HTTP POST requests. The response
from the ad server or other database will be a small XML that gives
the path of the ad, length, and any other information that's
related to the ad. The player reacts to events signaled by the cue
points request and will execute actions defined inside the event
trigger instructing the player with the ad parameters, e.g., kind
of ad file requested, the action to take, e.g., pause, lifespan,
effect, specifics coordinates of the over-laid ad, and the like, as
well as any other custom defined configurations.
[0038] The following exemplifies simple cue point metadata, which
is generated by the video editor 102 and stored with the
advertisement:
TABLE-US-00002 CUE POINT DURA- URL TIME NAME ACTION TION PATH
1:54.02 soda_can Fade In 10 sec. http://yoururl.com/ad 2:02.06
pizza_box Motion Path 10 sec. http://yoururl.com/ad 9:02.04
sneakers Glow 5 sec. http://yoururl.com/ad
[0039] In step 222, the video player receives the ad with an
interactive link which a user/viewer may select and click on to
obtain further information about the product being advertised, and
optionally purchase same. The ad is then displayed as either or
both an ad with the link as an overlay on the video production in
step 224, or in step 226 as a calling cue point for the ad and link
in an icon or logo in a timeline below the video production. In
step 224, the ad is displayed for the duration indicated in the cue
point data, as exemplified above. The icon or logo in the timeline
of step 226 may remain in the timeline as long as space permits,
that is, until space is needed for a icon or logo of a subsequent
icon or logo.
[0040] In step 228, a determination is made whether the video
production is complete. If the video production is not complete,
execution returns to step 212; otherwise, execution is terminated
as step 230.
[0041] FIGS. 5 and 6 provide additional visual examples of
interactive overlay and timeline ads, in which the video player 108
seeks cue points set in the video content triggering an ad event
requesting either a timeline advertisement or an embedded live
overlay advertisement. More specifically, FIG. 5 exemplifies how
timeline information and advertisement offers directly correspond
to cue points inside specific video content assets. FIG. 6
exemplifies how cue points trigger pre-defined advertising events
stored and indexed with metadata in the ad server or other
database. An example of the event may include the extraction of a
single video frame or a series of frames of a video production,
which in turn becomes the interactive advertisement that is laid
over the video production to create a seamless interactive
clickable video ad. As shown in FIG. 6, the product being
advertised is highlight via rotoscoping, and additional information
may be obtained about by clicking on the product.
[0042] By the use of the present invention, an improved method is
provided for advertising products by interactively placing them
either in a timeline or embedding them in a live overlay on a video
production.
[0043] It is understood that the present invention may take many
forms and embodiments. Accordingly, several variations may be made
in the foregoing without departing from the spirit or the scope of
the invention. For example, the compositing of elements otherwise
non-existing into the finished advertising product or filming green
screen products and services into the production to later composite
via the video editing application. Means for interconnecting
components of the system may be achieved other than via the
Internet, such as via fiber optic or cable network or satellite.
The video stream may be supplied by alternative means
incorporating, for example, DVD technology.
[0044] Having thus described the present invention by reference to
certain of its preferred embodiments, it is noted that the
embodiments disclosed are illustrative rather than limiting in
nature and that a wide range of variations, modifications, changes,
and substitutions are contemplated in the foregoing disclosure and,
in some instances, some features of the present invention may be
employed without a corresponding use of the other features. Many
such variations and modifications may be considered obvious and
desirable by those skilled in the art based upon a review of the
foregoing description of preferred embodiments. Accordingly, it is
appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a
manner consistent with the scope of the invention.
* * * * *
References