U.S. patent application number 14/329559 was filed with the patent office on 2016-01-14 for systems and methods for providing media guidance in relation to previously-viewed media assets.
The applicant listed for this patent is Rovi Guides, Inc.. Invention is credited to Andrew Fundament.
Application Number | 20160011743 14/329559 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53765546 |
Filed Date | 2016-01-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160011743 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fundament; Andrew |
January 14, 2016 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING MEDIA GUIDANCE IN RELATION TO
PREVIOUSLY-VIEWED MEDIA ASSETS
Abstract
The systems and methods disclosed herein provide media guidance
in relation to previously-viewed media assets. A request from a
user to access a source by which a media asset is currently being
transmitted to a plurality of users is received. In response to
accessing the source by which the media asset is currently being
transmitted, a viewing history associated with the user is accessed
to determine whether the media asset has previously been viewed by
the user. Responsive to determining that the media asset has
previously been viewed by the user, a first play position, at which
the user previously stopped viewing the media asset is identified.
A transport bar is generated for display by the systems and
methods, including a first time indicator corresponding to the
first play position, and a second time indicator corresponding to a
portion of the media asset currently being transmitted by the
source.
Inventors: |
Fundament; Andrew;
(Arlington Heights, IL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Rovi Guides, Inc. |
Santa Clara |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
53765546 |
Appl. No.: |
14/329559 |
Filed: |
July 11, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/716 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/4751 20130101;
H04N 21/2187 20130101; H04N 21/47217 20130101; G06F 3/04847
20130101; H04N 21/8455 20130101; H04N 21/47214 20130101; G06F
3/04842 20130101; H04N 21/4333 20130101; G06F 3/0482 20130101; H04N
21/44222 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/0484 20060101
G06F003/0484; G06F 3/0482 20060101 G06F003/0482 |
Claims
1. A method for providing media guidance in relation to
previously-viewed media assets, the method comprising: receiving,
using control circuitry, a request from a user to access a source
by which a media asset is currently being transmitted to a
plurality of users; in response to accessing the source by which
the media asset is currently being transmitted, accessing a viewing
history associated with the user to determine whether the media
asset has previously been viewed by the user; in response to
determining that the media asset has previously been viewed by the
user, identifying a first play position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset; and generating for
display a transport bar comprising a first time indicator and a
second time indicator, wherein the first time indicator corresponds
to the first play position, at which the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset, and the second time indicator corresponds
to a portion of the media asset currently being transmitted by the
source.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first play position
corresponds to a time after the portion of the media asset
currently being transmitted by the source, the method further
comprising: receiving a selection from the user to monitor when the
portion of the media asset currently being transmitted by the
source reaches the first play position; and executing a function
once the portion of the media asset currently being transmitted
reaches the first play position.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein executing the function comprises
at least one of: alerting the user that the portion of the media
asset currently being transmitted has reached the first play
position, generating for display, without further input from the
user, the media asset, and recording the media asset from the first
play position.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first play position
corresponds to a time before the portion of the media asset
currently being transmitted by the source, the method further
comprising: receiving a selection from the user to generate the
media asset for display from the first play position; and
generating for display the media asset from the first play
position, in response to receiving the selection from the user.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first play position
corresponds to a time before the portion of the media asset
currently being transmitted by the source, the method further
comprising: receiving a selection from the user to generate the
media asset for display from the beginning; and generating for
display the media asset from the beginning in response to receiving
the selection from the user.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the source corresponds to a
broadcast channel.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the viewing history comprises
viewing information for one or more users and accessing the viewing
history comprises: determining an identifier associated with the
user; and identifying the first play position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset based on the
identifier.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the source is a first source, the
method further comprising: receiving a selection from the user to
access the media asset on-demand in response to generating for
display the transport bar; and accessing the media asset on-demand
from a second source.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first time indicator
comprises at least one of a date and a time at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating for
display the media asset, wherein the transport bar is overlaid with
the generated display of the media asset.
11. A system for providing media guidance in relation to
previously-viewed media assets, the system comprising: storage
circuitry configured to: store a viewing history associated with a
user; and control circuitry configured to: receive a request from
the user to access a source by which a media asset is currently
being transmitted to a plurality of users; in response to accessing
the source by which the media asset is currently being transmitted,
access the viewing history associated with the user to determine
whether the media asset has previously been viewed by the user; in
response to determining that the media asset has previously been
viewed by the user, identify a first play position at which the
user previously stopped viewing the media asset; and generate for
display a transport bar comprising a first time indicator and a
second time indicator, wherein the first time indicator corresponds
to the first play position, at which the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset, and the second time indicator corresponds
to a portion of the media asset currently being transmitted by the
source.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first play position
corresponds to a time after the portion of the media asset
currently being transmitted by the source, and the control
circuitry is further configured to: receive a selection from the
user to monitor when the portion of the media asset currently being
transmitted by the source reaches the first play position; and
execute a function once the portion of the media asset currently
being transmitted reaches the first play position.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry is
configured to execute the function by at least one of: alerting the
user that the portion of the media asset currently being
transmitted has reached the first play position, generating for
display, without further input from the user, the media asset, and
recording the media asset from the first play position.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein the first play position
corresponds to a time before the portion of the media asset
currently being transmitted by the source, and the control
circuitry is further configured to: receive a selection from the
user to generate the media asset for display from the first play
position; and generate for display the media asset from the first
play position, in response to receiving the selection from the
user.
15. The system of claim 11, wherein the first play position
corresponds to a time before the portion of the media asset
currently being transmitted by the source, and the control
circuitry is further configured to: receive a selection from the
user to generate the media asset for display from the beginning;
and generate for display the media asset from the beginning in
response to receiving the selection from the user.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein the source corresponds to a
broadcast channel.
17. The system of claim 11, wherein the viewing history comprises
viewing information for one or more users, and the control
circuitry is further configured to access the viewing history by:
determining an identifier associated with the user; and identifying
the first play position at which the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset based on the identifier.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein the source is a first source,
and the control circuitry is further configured to: receive a
selection from the user to access the media asset on-demand in
response to generating for display the transport bar; and access
the media asset on-demand from a second source.
19. The system of claim 11, wherein the first time indicator
comprises at least one of a date and a time at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset.
20. The system of claim 11, wherein the control circuitry is
further configured to: generate for display the media asset,
wherein the transport bar is overlaid with the generated display of
the media asset.
21-50. (canceled)
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0001] Users who have seen a media asset in part often wish to
resume watching the partially-viewed media asset from the position
at which they previously stopped viewing the media asset. While
conventional systems may indicate whether a media asset as a whole
has previously been watched, these systems do not allow a user to
pinpoint the exact location at which the user previously stopped
watching. Accordingly, based on this coarse-grained approach, users
wishing to identify at what position they have previously left off
watching a media asset lack effective mechanisms for identifying
the last-seen play position and are not able to automatically
resume watching the media asset from that position.
SUMMARY
[0002] Accordingly, systems and methods are described herein for
providing media guidance in relation to previously-viewed media
assets by visualizing segments of a media asset that have
previously been viewed by the user, and positions at which the user
previously stopped watching. The systems and methods further enable
users to execute or activate media guidance functions in relation
to the position or positions at which they previously stopped
watching (e.g., by resuming to watch the media asset from that
position or by setting a reminder to tune back to a channel
transmitting the media asset when a broadcast of the media asset
reaches the position at which the user previously stopped
watching).
[0003] For example, a user may be flipping through channels in
order to identify media assets to watch. When the user changes
channels, the systems and methods identify the specific media asset
that is currently being transmitted on the channel (e.g., an
episode of a TV show). In response to determining the specific
media asset, the systems and methods may access a viewing history
to determine if the user has watched or otherwise accessed the
media asset before and, if so, the position at which the user
previously left off watching the media asset. If the media asset
has previously been watched or accessed, an indication of that
position is provided together with another indication of the
current play position. The user is further able to execute or
activate various functions in relation to the position at which the
user previously stopped watching the media asset, such as resuming
to watch the media asset from the last watched position.
[0004] In some aspects, in response to receiving a request from the
user to access a media source (e.g., by tuning to a broadcast
channel), the systems and methods access a viewing history
associated with the user to determine whether a media asset (e.g.,
an episode of a TV show) currently being transmitted by the media
source (e.g., the broadcast channel) has previously been viewed by
the user. The viewing history may be accessed automatically in
response to accessing the media source, without requiring further
input from a user. The viewing history may be stored locally or
remotely and may specifically identify previous access times in
relation to a specific user and/or a group of users. The viewing
history may also specifically identify the media asset (e.g., the
episode of the TV show) based on its title, its season/episode
number, or based on any other suitable identifier or metadata.
[0005] For example, a user may tune to a broadcast channel on which
a particular episode of a TV series is being shown (e.g., an
episode of the show "The Sopranos"). In response to tuning to the
broadcast channel currently airing the show, the systems and
methods may determine an identifier associated with the show (e.g.,
the show's name and the season and episode number of the "The
Sopranos" episode). For example, a media guidance database may be
accessed to retrieve a program listing corresponding to the
broadcast channel at the current time. The systems and methods may
then access a viewing history to determine whether an entry exists
in the viewing history associated with the determined identifier.
If such an entry exists, the systems and methods may retrieve the
entry in the viewing history and present the user with an indicator
of a play position at which the user previously stopped viewing the
media asset (e.g., the user previously stopped viewing the media
asset ten minutes into the episode).
[0006] In some aspects, the systems and methods visualize the
position at which a user has previously stopped viewing the media
asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) by generating for display a
transport bar that includes an indicator of a play position at
which the user previously left off. The transport bar may further
include another indicator that corresponds to a current play
position (e.g., the current broadcast position), therefore enabling
a user to determine whether the current play position is before or
after the position at which the user previously stopped viewing the
media asset. This visualization allows users to determine whether
to continue watching the media asset, come back to the media asset
at a later time, or perform other suitable media guidance functions
in relation to the media asset. For example, a user accessing an
episode of "The Sopranos" on a broadcast channel may be presented
with a transport bar that shows a current play position (e.g., 5
mins into the episode). The user may have previously viewed a
larger fraction of the episode (e.g., the user previously watched
the first 25 mins of the episode but was interrupted). In
accordance with this example, the transport bar may include two
indicators, one indication that marks the current play position of
5 mins into the episode, and another indicator at 25 mins marking
the position at which the user previously stopped viewing the
episode. Provided with this information, the user is able to make a
more informed determination of whether to continue watching the
broadcast of the specific episode, thus watching the next 20 mins
of previously accessed content again, or whether to avoid watching
the previously accessed content by invoking one of the media
guidance functions discussed above and below.
[0007] In other aspects, it may be the case that the user accesses
the source (e.g., by tuning to a broadcast channel) transmitting
the media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) at a time that is
after the position at which the user previously stopped viewing the
media asset. For example, the current play position of the "The
Sopranos" episode may be at 25 mins and the user previously viewed
only the first 5 mins of the episode. Similar to the aforementioned
scenario, the transport bar may visualize both indicators, thereby
enabling the user to make a more informed decision as to whether to
continue watching the episode, or whether to execute one of the
media guidance functions discussed above or below. For example, the
user may decide to keep watching the episode from the current play
position, thus missing out on the segment of the media asset
between the position at which the user previously stopped viewing
the media asset and the current play position (e.g., the current
broadcast position). Alternatively, the user may decide to invoke a
media guidance function to automatically record the missed segment
of the media asset when that episode is being re-aired, or by
accessing the media asset on-demand.
[0008] In some aspects, the systems and methods may determine that
the current play position (e.g., the current broadcast position) of
the media asset is before the position at which the user previously
stopped viewing the media asset. In response to making this
determination, the systems and methods may receive a selection from
the user to monitor when the current play position (e.g., the
current broadcast position) reaches the position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset, and to execute a
function once the current play position reaches the position at
which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset.
Executing the function may include alerting the user that the
current play position (e.g., the current broadcast position) has
reached the position at which the user previously stopped viewing
the media asset, automatically switching to the source transmitting
the media asset (e.g., automatically tuning to the broadcast
channel) once the current play position has reached the position at
which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset (e.g.,
assuming the user has since tuned away to watch other content), or
recording the media asset from the position at which the user has
previously stopped viewing the media asset.
[0009] In some aspects, the systems and methods may determine that
the current play position (e.g., the current broadcast position) of
the media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) is after the
position at which the user previously stopped viewing the media
asset. In response to making this determination, the systems and
methods may receive a selection from the user to display the media
asset either from the beginning or from the position at which the
user has previously stopped viewing the media asset. For example, a
user tuning to an episode of the show "The Sopranos" may be shown a
transport bar that indicates that the user has previously viewed
the episode and stopped watching 10 mins into the episode. The
current play position (e.g., the current broadcast position) may be
20 mins into the episode, and thus the user would miss a portion of
the episode if the user continued watching from the current play
position (e.g., the current broadcast position). In response to
this determination, the systems and methods may enable the user to
display the episode either from the beginning or from the position
at which the user previously stopped viewing the episode, assuming
that the episode has been stored or buffered and is thus available
for retrieval. Alternatively, the systems and methods may access a
media asset database in order to retrieve the episode on
demand.
[0010] In some aspects, the viewing history may include viewing
information for one or more users, and viewing information may be
retrieved from the viewing history based on a user identifier.
Specifically, the systems and methods may determine an identifier
associated with the user currently accessing content and use the
user identifier in combination with an identifier of the media
asset to determine if the user has previously viewed the media
asset and, if so, at what position the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset. In some embodiments multiple users may be
accessing content at the same time (e.g., a family watching
television together), in which case the viewing history may be
accessed multiple times, for each of the multiple users. If the
entries retrieved from the viewing history differ among the users,
multiple indicators may be shown on the transport bar in order to
visualize each of the positions at which different users have
previously stopped viewing the media asset.
[0011] In some aspects, in response to the visual indication of
having seen the media asset previously, the system and methods may
receive a user selection to access the media asset on-demand. For
example, a user who notices that he or she has previously seen the
beginning of an episode of the show "The Sopranos" but would miss a
portion of the episode if he or she resumed watching from the
current broadcast position (e.g., if the current play position is
after the position at which the user previously stopped viewing the
media asset) may decide that he or she would like to access the
episode on-demand. In response to such a user selection, the
systems and methods may access the episode on-demand from a content
source. In some embodiments, the systems and methods may
automatically determine if the episode is available on-demand, and
may show the user the cost of purchasing the episode, if payment is
required.
[0012] In some aspects, the systems and methods may visualize the
current play position (e.g., the current broadcast position) and
the position at which the user previously stopped viewing the media
asset using a transport bar that is overlaid on top of the portion
of the media asset currently being generated for display. In
addition to generating for display the transport bar, other
visualization techniques may be used to indicate the aforementioned
play position (e.g., the current broadcast position). In addition,
listings of one or more media guidance functions, which may be
executed in relation to the previously-viewed media asset, may be
generated for display, thereby enabling the user to determine
easily what types of media guidance functions are available to be
executed. Media guidance functions that are not available to be
executed may be grayed-out, whereas media guidance functions that
are available to be executed may be highlighted.
[0013] It should be noted that the systems and methods described
above may be combined with, applied to, or used in accordance with,
other systems, methods, or apparatuses discussed both above and
below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure
will be apparent under consideration of the following detailed
description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout,
and in which:
[0015] FIGS. 1 and 2 show illustrative display screens that may be
used to provide media guidance application listings in accordance
with an embodiment of the disclosure;
[0016] FIG. 3 shows an illustrative user equipment device in
accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a diagram of an illustrative cross-platform
interactive media system in accordance with another embodiment of
the disclosure;
[0018] FIGS. 5 and 6 show illustrative display screens that may be
used to provide media guidance in relation to previously-viewed
media assets, in accordance with some embodiments of the
disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 7 shows an illustrative viewing history that stores
play positions at which a user previously stopped viewing a media
asset, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 8A shows a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in
providing media guidance in relation to previously-viewed media
assets, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 8B shows a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in
providing media guidance in relation to previously-viewed media
assets when a current viewing position occurs later than a position
at which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure; and
[0022] FIG. 8C shows a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in
providing media guidance in relation to previously-viewed media
assets when a current viewing position occurs earlier than a
position at which the user previously stopped viewing the media
asset, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] The amount of content available to users in any given
content delivery system can be substantial. Consequently, many
users desire a form of media guidance through an interface that
allows users to efficiently navigate content selections and easily
identify content that they may desire. An application that provides
such guidance is referred to herein as an interactive media
guidance application or, sometimes, a media guidance application or
a guidance application.
[0024] Interactive media guidance applications may take various
forms depending on the content for which they provide guidance. One
typical type of a media guidance application is an interactive
television program guide. Interactive television program guides
(sometimes referred to as electronic program guides) are well-known
guidance applications that, among other things, allow users to
navigate among and locate many types of content or media assets.
Interactive media guidance applications may generate graphical user
interface screens that enable a user to navigate among, locate, and
select content. As referred to herein, the terms "media asset" and
"content" should be understood to mean an electronically consumable
user asset, such as television programming, as well as pay-per-view
programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand (VOD) systems),
Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadable content,
Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information, pictures,
rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles, books,
electronic books, blogs, advertisements, chat sessions, social
media, applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia
and/or combination of the same. Guidance applications also allow
users to navigate among and locate content. As referred to herein,
the term "multimedia" should be understood to mean content that
utilizes at least two different content forms described above, for
example, text, audio, images, video, or interactivity content
forms. Content may be recorded, played, displayed or accessed by
user equipment devices, but can also be part of a live
performance.
[0025] The media guidance application and/or any instructions for
performing any of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded
on computer readable media. Computer readable media includes any
media capable of storing data. The computer readable media may be
transitory, including, but not limited to, propagating electrical
or electromagnetic signals, or may be non-transitory including, but
not limited to, volatile and non-volatile computer memory or
storage devices such as a hard disk, floppy disk, USB drive, DVD,
CD, media cards, register memory, processor caches, Random Access
Memory ("RAM"), etc.
[0026] With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and
high-speed wireless networks, users are accessing media on user
equipment devices on which they traditionally did not. As referred
to herein, the phrase "user equipment device," "user equipment,"
"user device," "electronic device," "electronic equipment," "media
equipment device," or "media device" should be understood to mean
any device for accessing the content described above, such as a
television, a Smart TV, a set-top box, an integrated receiver
decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a digital storage
device, a digital media receiver (DMR), a digital media adapter
(DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, a DVD recorder, a
connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, a BLU-RAY
recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tablet
computer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PC
media server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationary
telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone,
a portable video player, a portable music player, a portable gaming
machine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment,
computing equipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the
same. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a
front facing screen and a rear facing screen, multiple front
screens, or multiple angled screens. In some embodiments, the user
equipment device may have a front facing camera and/or a rear
facing camera. On these user equipment devices, users may be able
to navigate among and locate the same content available through a
television. Consequently, media guidance may be available on these
devices, as well. The guidance provided may be for content
available only through a television, for content available only
through one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or
for content available both through a television and one or more of
the other types of user equipment devices. The media guidance
applications may be provided as online applications (i.e., provided
on a web-site), or as stand-alone applications or clients on user
equipment devices. Various devices and platforms that may implement
media guidance applications are described in more detail below.
[0027] One of the functions of the media guidance application is to
provide media guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the
phrase "media guidance data" or "guidance data" should be
understood to mean any data related to content or data used in
operating the guidance application. For example, the guidance data
may include program information, guidance application settings,
user preferences, user profile information, media listings,
media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcast
channels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parental
control ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category
information, actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or
providers' logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition,
high definition, 3D, etc.), advertisement information (e.g., text,
images, media clips, etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites,
and any other type of guidance data that is helpful for a user to
navigate among and locate desired content selections.
[0028] In some embodiments, media guidance data may further include
viewing data, such as listings of previously-viewed or
previously-accessed media assets, listings of the positions at
which the viewing of a media asset was previously stopped, or
listings of days and times at which a media asset was previously
accessed. The listings may include one or more user or group
identifiers to associate the viewing information with one or more
users.
[0029] FIGS. 1-4 show illustrative display screens that may be used
to provide media guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS.
1-4 may be implemented on any suitable user equipment device or
platform. While the displays of FIGS. 1-4 are illustrated as full
screen displays, they may also be fully or partially overlaid over
content being displayed. A user may indicate a desire to access
content information by selecting a selectable option provided in a
display screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, an icon, a
hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a GUIDE
button) on a remote control or other user input interface or
device. In response to the user's indication, the media guidance
application may provide a display screen with media guidance data
organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in a
grid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category
(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories of
programming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other
organization criteria.
[0030] FIG. 1 shows an illustrative grid of a program listings
display 100 arranged by time and channel that also enables access
to different types of content in a single display. Display 100 may
include grid 102 with: (1) a column of channel/content type
identifiers 104, where each channel/content type identifier (which
is a cell in the column) identifies a different channel or content
type available; and (2) a row of time identifiers 106, where each
time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifies a time
block of programming. Grid 102 also includes cells of program
listings, such as program listing 108, where each listing provides
the title of the program provided on the listing's associated
channel and time. With a user input device, a user can select
program listings by moving highlight region 110. Information
relating to the program listing selected by highlight region 110
may be provided in program information region 112. Region 112 may
include, for example, the program title, the program description,
the time the program is provided (if applicable), the channel the
program is on (if applicable), the program's rating, and other
desired information.
[0031] In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g.,
content that is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user
equipment devices at a predetermined time and is provided according
to a schedule), the media guidance application also provides access
to non-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user
equipment device at any time and is not provided according to a
schedule). Non-linear programming may include content from
different content sources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD),
Internet content (e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, etc.),
locally stored content (e.g., content stored on any user equipment
device described above or other storage device), or other
time-independent content. On-demand content may include movies or
any other content provided by a particular content provider (e.g.,
HBO On Demand providing "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm").
HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time Warner Company L.P.
et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM are trademarks
owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content may include web
events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or content available
on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content through an
Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).
[0032] Grid 102 may provide media guidance data for non-linear
programming including on-demand listing 114, recorded content
listing 116, and Internet content listing 118. A display combining
media guidance data for content from different types of content
sources is sometimes referred to as a "mixed-media" display.
Various permutations of the types of media guidance data that may
be displayed that are different than display 100 may be based on
user selection or guidance application definition (e.g., a display
of only recorded and broadcast listings, only on-demand and
broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings 114, 116, and
118 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayed in grid
102 to indicate that selection of these listings may provide access
to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings, or
Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings for
these content types may be included directly in grid 102.
Additional media guidance data may be displayed in response to the
user selecting one of the navigational icons 120. (Pressing an
arrow key on a user input device may affect the display in a
similar manner as selecting navigational icons 120.)
[0033] Program listing 108 in grid 102 may be graphically
accentuated to indicate whether the program that corresponds to
program listing 108 has previously been viewed by the user. For
example, if the program has previously been watched by the user in
its entirety, an icon or text may be added to program listing 108.
Alternatively or additionally, program listing 108 may be
graphically accentuated by using a different color or shading to
distinguish it from other program listings that have not been
accessed by the user. Moreover, if a program has previously been
accessed by the user but not watched in its entirety, program
listing 108 may provide a graphical indication of the position at
which the user previously stopped viewing the program. For example,
if the first half of the program has previously been viewed by the
user, then the first half of program listing 108 may be colored or
shaded differently from the remainder of the program listing, in
order to indicate to the user that only the first half of the
program has previously been accessed. This enables the user to
prioritize watching a program that has not yet been viewed in its
entirety, e.g., because the user was interrupted while watching the
program.
[0034] Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisement
124, and options region 126. Video region 122 may allow the user to
view and/or preview programs that are currently available, will be
available, or were available to the user. The content of video
region 122 may correspond to, or be independent from, one of the
listings displayed in grid 102. Grid displays including a video
region are sometimes referred to as picture-in-guide (PIG)
displays. PIG displays and their functionalities are described in
greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378,
issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794, issued
May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in
their entireties. PIG displays may be included in other media
guidance application display screens of the embodiments described
herein.
[0035] Advertisement 124 may provide an advertisement for content
that, depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscription
programming), is currently available for viewing, will be available
for viewing in the future, or may never become available for
viewing, and may correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of
the content listings in grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be for
products or services related or unrelated to the content displayed
in grid 102. Advertisement 124 may be selectable and provide
further information about content, provide information about a
product or a service, enable purchasing of content, a product, or a
service, provide content relating to the advertisement, etc.
Advertisement 124 may be targeted based on a user's
profile/preferences, monitored user activity, the type of display
provided, or on other suitable targeted advertisement bases.
[0036] While advertisement 124 is shown as rectangular or banner
shaped, advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape,
and location in a guidance application display. For example,
advertisement 124 may be provided as a rectangular shape that is
horizontally adjacent to grid 102. This is sometimes referred to as
a panel advertisement. In addition, advertisements may be overlaid
over content or a guidance application display or embedded within a
display. Advertisements may also include text, images, rotating
images, video clips, or other types of content described above.
Advertisements may be stored in a user equipment device having a
guidance application, in a database connected to the user
equipment, in a remote location (including streaming media
servers), or on other storage means, or a combination of these
locations. Providing advertisements in a media guidance application
is discussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson et al.,
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0110499, filed Jan.
17, 2003; Ward, III et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29,
2004; and Schein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14,
2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their
entireties. It will be appreciated that advertisements may be
included in other media guidance application display screens of the
embodiments described herein.
[0037] Options region 126 may allow the user to access different
types of content, media guidance application displays, and/or media
guidance application features. Options region 126 may be part of
display 100 (and other display screens described herein), or may be
invoked by a user by selecting an on-screen option or pressing a
dedicated or assignable button on a user input device. The
selectable options within options region 126 may concern features
related to program listings in grid 102 or may include options
available from a main menu display. Features related to program
listings may include searching for other air times or ways of
receiving a program, recording a program, enabling series recording
of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,
purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a
main menu display may include search options, VOD options, parental
control options, Internet options, cloud-based options, device
synchronization options, second screen device options, options to
access various types of media guidance data displays, options to
subscribe to a premium service, options to edit a user's profile,
options to access a browse overlay, or other options.
[0038] The media guidance application may be personalized based on
a user's preferences. A personalized media guidance application
allows a user to customize displays and features to create a
personalized "experience" with the media guidance application. This
personalized experience may be created by allowing a user to input
these customizations and/or by the media guidance application
monitoring user activity to determine various user preferences.
Users may access their personalized guidance application by logging
in or otherwise identifying themselves to the guidance application.
Customization of the media guidance application may be made in
accordance with a user profile. The customizations may include
varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays, font
size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,
only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channels
based on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display of
channels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features
(e.g., recording or series recordings for particular users,
recording quality, etc.), parental control settings, customized
presentation of Internet content (e.g., presentation of social
media content, e-mail, electronically delivered articles, etc.) and
other desired customizations.
[0039] The media guidance application may allow a user to provide
user profile information or may automatically compile user profile
information. The media guidance application may, for example,
monitor the content the user accesses and/or other interactions the
user may have with the guidance application. Additionally, the
media guidance application may obtain all or part of other user
profiles that are related to a particular user (e.g., from other
web sites on the Internet the user accesses, such as
www.allrovi.com, from other media guidance applications the user
accesses, from other interactive applications the user accesses,
from another user equipment device of the user, etc.), and/or
obtain information about the user from other sources that the media
guidance application may access. As a result, a user can be
provided with a unified guidance application experience across the
user's different user equipment devices. This type of user
experience is described in greater detail below in connection with
FIG. 4. Additional personalized media guidance application features
are described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent
Application Publication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005,
Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and
Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0174430,
filed Feb. 21, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference
herein in their entireties.
[0040] In some aspects, viewing data about media assets accessed by
the user and positions at which the user previously stopped viewing
the media asset may be stored locally or remotely. For example, to
provide a user with a unified guidance application experience
across the user's different user equipment devices, some or all of
the viewing data may be stored as part of a user's profile.
[0041] Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is
shown in FIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable
options 202 for content information organized based on content
type, genre, and/or other organization criteria. In display 200,
television listings option 204 is selected, thus providing listings
206, 208, 210, and 212 as broadcast program listings. In display
200 the listings may provide graphical images including cover art,
still images from the content, video clip previews, live video from
the content, or other types of content that indicate to a user the
content being described by the media guidance data in the listing.
Each of the graphical listings may also be accompanied by text to
provide further information about the content associated with the
listing. For example, listing 208 may include more than one
portion, including media portion 214 and text portion 216. Media
portion 214 and/or text portion 216 may be selectable to view
content in full-screen or to view information related to the
content displayed in media portion 214 (e.g., to view listings for
the channel that the video is displayed on).
[0042] The listings in display 200 are of different sizes (i.e.,
listing 206 is larger than listings 208, 210, and 212), but if
desired, all the listings may be the same size. Listings may be of
different sizes or graphically accentuated to indicate degrees of
interest to the user or to emphasize certain content, as desired by
the content provider or based on user preferences. Various systems
and methods for graphically accentuating content listings are
discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S. Patent Application
Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Dec. 29, 2005, which is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. For example, in
one aspect, listings may be graphically accentuated according to
whether they have previously been viewed by the user.
[0043] Users may access content and the media guidance application
(and its display screens described above and below) from one or
more of their user equipment devices. FIG. 3 shows a generalized
embodiment of illustrative user equipment device 300. More specific
implementations of user equipment devices are discussed below in
connection with FIG. 4. User equipment device 300 may receive
content and data via input/output (hereinafter "I/O") path 302. I/O
path 302 may provide content (e.g., broadcast programming,
on-demand programming, Internet content, content available over a
local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), and/or other
content) and data to control circuitry 304, which includes
processing circuitry 306 and storage 308. Control circuitry 304 may
be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable
data using I/O path 302. I/O path 302 may connect control circuitry
304 (and specifically processing circuitry 306) to one or more
communications paths (described below). I/O functions may be
provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are
shown as a single path in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicating the
drawing.
[0044] Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable
processing circuitry such as processing circuitry 306. As referred
to herein, processing circuitry should be understood to mean
circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers,
digital signal processors, programmable logic devices,
field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific
integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may include a multi-core
processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or any suitable
number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments, processing
circuitry may be distributed across multiple separate processors or
processing units, for example, multiple of the same type of
processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multiple
different processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel
Core i7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 304
executes instructions for a media guidance application stored in
memory (i.e., storage 308). Specifically, control circuitry 304 may
be instructed by the media guidance application to perform the
functions discussed above and below. For example, the media
guidance application may provide instructions to control circuitry
304 to generate the media guidance displays. In some
implementations, any action performed by control circuitry 304 may
be based on instructions received from the media guidance
application.
[0045] In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304
may include communications circuitry suitable for communicating
with a guidance application server or other networks or servers.
The instructions for carrying out the above mentioned functionality
may be stored on the guidance application server. Communications
circuitry may include a cable modem, an integrated services digital
network (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a
telephone modem, Ethernet card, or a wireless modem for
communications with other equipment, or any other suitable
communications circuitry. Such communications may involve the
Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths
(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 4). In
addition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that
enables peer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or
communication of user equipment devices in locations remote from
each other (described in more detail below).
[0046] Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as
storage 308 that is part of control circuitry 304. As referred to
herein, the phrase "electronic storage device" or "storage device"
should be understood to mean any device for storing electronic
data, computer software, or firmware, such as random-access memory,
read-only memory, hard drives, optical drives, digital video disc
(DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD) recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD)
recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders, digital video recorders (DVR,
sometimes called a personal video recorder, or PVR), solid state
devices, quantum storage devices, gaming consoles, gaming media, or
any other suitable fixed or removable storage devices, and/or any
combination of the same. Storage 308 may be used to store various
types of content described herein as well as media guidance data
described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., to
launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-based
storage, described in relation to FIG. 4, may be used to supplement
storage 308 or instead of storage 308.
[0047] Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry
and tuning circuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or
more MPEG-2 decoders or other digital decoding circuitry,
high-definition tuners, or any other suitable tuning or video
circuits or combinations of such circuits. Encoding circuitry
(e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog, or digital signals to
MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided. Control circuitry
304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconverting and
downconverting content into the preferred output format of the user
equipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also include digital-to-analog
converter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry for
converting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and
encoding circuitry may be used by the user equipment device to
receive and to display, to play, or to record content. The tuning
and encoding circuitry may also be used to receive guidance data.
The circuitry described herein, including for example, the tuning,
video generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting,
scaler, and analog/digital circuitry, may be implemented using
software running on one or more general purpose or specialized
processors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handle simultaneous
tuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions,
picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,
etc.). If storage 308 is provided as a separate device from user
equipment 300, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including
multiple tuners) may be associated with storage 308.
[0048] A user may send instructions to control circuitry 304 using
user input interface 310. User input interface 310 may be any
suitable user interface, such as a remote control, mouse,
trackball, keypad, keyboard, touch screen, touchpad, stylus input,
joystick, voice recognition interface, or other user input
interfaces. Display 312 may be provided as a stand-alone device or
integrated with other elements of user equipment device 300. For
example, display 312 may be a touchscreen or touch-sensitive
display. In such circumstances, user input interface 312 may be
integrated with or combined with display 312. Display 312 may be
one or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display
(LCD) for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low
temperature poly silicon display, electronic ink display,
electrophoretic display, active matrix display, electro-wetting
display, electrofluidic display, cathode ray tube display,
light-emitting diode display, electroluminescent display, plasma
display panel, high-performance addressing display, thin-film
transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,
surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser
television, carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric
modulator display, or any other suitable equipment for displaying
visual images. In some embodiments, display 312 may be
HDTV-capable. In some embodiments, display 312 may be a 3D display,
and the interactive media guidance application and any suitable
content may be displayed in 3D. A video card or graphics card may
generate the output to the display 312. The video card may offer
various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D
graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to
connect multiple monitors. The video card may be any processing
circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry 304. The
video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 304.
Speakers 314 may be provided as integrated with other elements of
user equipment device 300 or may be stand-alone units. The audio
component of videos and other content displayed on display 312 may
be played through speakers 314. In some embodiments, the audio may
be distributed to a receiver (not shown), which processes and
outputs the audio via speakers 314.
[0049] The guidance application may be implemented using any
suitable architecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone
application wholly-implemented on user equipment device 300. In
such an approach, instructions of the application are stored
locally (e.g., in storage 308), and data for use by the application
is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed,
from an Internet resource, or using another suitable approach).
Control circuitry 304 may retrieve instructions of the application
from storage 308 and process the instructions to generate any of
the displays discussed herein. Based on the processed instructions,
control circuitry 304 may determine what action to perform when
input is received from input interface 310. For example, movement
of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated by the processed
instructions when input interface 310 indicates that an up/down
button was selected.
[0050] In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a
client-server based application. Data for use by a thick or thin
client implemented on user equipment device 300 is retrieved
on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to the user
equipment device 300. In one example of a client-server based
guidance application, control circuitry 304 runs a web browser that
interprets web pages provided by a remote server. For example, the
remote server may store the instructions for the application in a
storage device. The remote server may process the stored
instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 304) and
generate the displays discussed above and below. The client device
may receive the displays generated by the remote server and may
display the content of the displays locally on equipment device
300. This way, the processing of the instructions is performed
remotely by the server while the resulting displays are provided
locally on equipment device 300. Equipment device 300 may receive
inputs from the user via input interface 310 and transmit those
inputs to the remote server for processing and generating the
corresponding displays. For example, equipment device 300 may
transmit a communication to the remote server indicating that an
up/down button was selected via input interface 310. The remote
server may process instructions in accordance with that input and
generate a display of the application corresponding to the input
(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated
display is then transmitted to equipment device 300 for
presentation to the user.
[0051] In some embodiments, the media guidance application is
downloaded and interpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or
virtual machine (run by control circuitry 304). In some
embodiments, the guidance application may be encoded in the ETV
Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received by control circuitry 304
as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by a user agent running
on control circuitry 304. For example, the guidance application may
be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, the guidance
application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files that are
received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitable
middleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some of such
embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital media
encoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example,
encoded and transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG
audio and video packets of a program.
[0052] User equipment device 300 of FIG. 3 can be implemented in
system 400 of FIG. 4 as user television equipment 402, user
computer equipment 404, wireless user communications device 406, or
any other type of user equipment suitable for accessing content,
such as a non-portable gaming machine. For simplicity, these
devices may be referred to herein collectively as user equipment or
user equipment devices, and may be substantially similar to user
equipment devices described above. User equipment devices, on which
a media guidance application may be implemented, may function as a
standalone device or may be part of a network of devices. Various
network configurations of devices may be implemented and are
discussed in more detail below.
[0053] A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the
system features described above in connection with FIG. 3 may not
be classified solely as user television equipment 402, user
computer equipment 404, or a wireless user communications device
406. For example, user television equipment 402 may, like some user
computer equipment 404, be Internet-enabled allowing for access to
Internet content, while user computer equipment 404 may, like some
television equipment 402, include a tuner allowing for access to
television programming. The media guidance application may have the
same layout on various different types of user equipment or may be
tailored to the display capabilities of the user equipment. For
example, on user computer equipment 404, the guidance application
may be provided as a web site accessed by a web browser. In another
example, the guidance application may be scaled down for wireless
user communications devices 406.
[0054] In system 400, there is typically more than one of each type
of user equipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to
avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may
utilize more than one type of user equipment device and also more
than one of each type of user equipment device.
[0055] In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user
television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, wireless
user communications device 406) may be referred to as a "second
screen device." For example, a second screen device may supplement
content presented on a first user equipment device. The content
presented on the second screen device may be any suitable content
that supplements the content presented on the first device. In some
embodiments, the second screen device provides an interface for
adjusting settings and display preferences of the first device. In
some embodiments, the second screen device is configured for
interacting with other second screen devices or for interacting
with a social network. In some embodiments, the second screen
device is configured to show whether a media asset has previously
been viewed by the user and, if so, the position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset. The second screen
device can be located in the same room as the first device, a
different room from the first device but in the same house or
building, or in a different building from the first device.
[0056] The user may also set various settings to maintain
consistent media guidance application settings across in-home
devices and remote devices. Settings include those described
herein, as well as channel and program favorites, programming
preferences that the guidance application utilizes to make
programming recommendations, display preferences, and other
desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channel
as a favorite on, for example, the web site www.allrovi.com on
their personal computer at their office, the same channel would
appear as a favorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user
television equipment and user computer equipment) as well as the
user's mobile devices, if desired. Therefore, changes made on one
user equipment device can change the guidance experience on another
user equipment device, regardless of whether they are the same or a
different type of user equipment device. In addition, the changes
made may be based on settings input by a user, as well as user
activity monitored by the guidance application.
[0057] The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications
network 414. Namely, user television equipment 402, user computer
equipment 404, and wireless user communications device 406 are
coupled to communications network 414 via communications paths 408,
410, and 412, respectively. Communications network 414 may be one
or more networks including the Internet, a mobile phone network,
mobile voice or data network (e.g., a 4G or LTE network), cable
network, public switched telephone network, or other types of
communications network or combinations of communications networks.
Paths 408, 410, and 412 may separately or together include one or
more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-optic
path, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications
(e.g., IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other
wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wireless
communications path or combination of such paths. Path 412 is drawn
with dotted lines to indicate that in the exemplary embodiment
shown in FIG. 4 it is a wireless path and paths 408 and 410 are
drawn as solid lines to indicate they are wired paths (although
these paths may be wireless paths, if desired).
[0058] Communications with the user equipment devices may be
provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are
shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the
drawing.
[0059] Although communications paths are not drawn between user
equipment devices, these devices may communicate directly with each
other via communication paths, such as those described above in
connection with paths 408, 410, and 412, as well as other
short-range point-to-point communication paths, such as USB cables,
IEEE 1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE
802-11x, etc.), or other short-range communication via wired or
wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is a certification mark owned by
Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipment devices may also communicate
with each other directly through an indirect path via
communications network 414.
[0060] System 400 includes content source 416 and media guidance
data source 418 coupled to communications network 414 via
communication paths 420 and 422, respectively. Paths 420 and 422
may include any of the communication paths described above in
connection with paths 408, 410, and 412.
[0061] Communications with the content source 416 and media
guidance data source 418 may be exchanged over one or more
communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to
avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, there may be more
than one of each of content source 416 and media guidance data
source 418, but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoid
overcomplicating the drawing. (The different types of each of these
sources are discussed below.) If desired, content source 416 and
media guidance data source 418 may be integrated as one source
device. Although communications between sources 416 and 418 with
user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 are shown as through
communications network 414, in some embodiments, sources 416 and
418 may communicate directly with user equipment devices 402, 404,
and 406 via communication paths (not shown) such as those described
above in connection with paths 408, 410, and 412.
[0062] Content source 416 may include one or more types of content
distribution equipment including a television distribution
facility, cable system headend, satellite distribution facility,
programming sources (e.g., television broadcasters, such as NBC,
ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediate distribution facilities and/or
servers, Internet providers, on-demand media servers, and other
content providers. NBC is a trademark owned by the National
Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by the
American Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned
by the Home Box Office, Inc. Content source 416 may be the
originator of content (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast
provider, etc.) or may not be the originator of content (e.g., an
on-demand content provider, an Internet provider of content of
broadcast programs for downloading, etc.). Content source 416 may
include cable sources, satellite providers, on-demand providers,
Internet providers, over-the-top content providers, or other
providers of content. Content source 416 may also include a remote
media server used to store different types of content (including
video content selected by a user), in a location remote from any of
the user equipment devices. Systems and methods for remote storage
of content, and providing remotely stored content to user equipment
are discussed in greater detail in connection with Ellis et al.,
U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, which is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0063] Media guidance data source 418 may provide media guidance
data, such as the media guidance data described above. Media
guidance data may be provided to the user equipment devices using
any suitable approach. In some embodiments, the guidance
application may be a stand-alone interactive television program
guide that receives program guide data via a data feed (e.g., a
continuous feed or trickle feed). Program schedule data and other
guidance data may be provided to the user equipment on a television
channel sideband, using an in-band digital signal, using an
out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitable data
transmission technique. Program schedule data and other media
guidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog
or digital television channels.
[0064] In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data
source 418 may be provided to users' equipment using a
client-server approach. For example, a user equipment device may
pull media guidance data from a server, or a server may push media
guidance data to a user equipment device. In some embodiments, a
guidance application client residing on the user's equipment may
initiate sessions with source 418 to obtain guidance data when
needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of date or when the
user equipment device receives a request from the user to receive
data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment with any
suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specified
period of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to a
request from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 418
may provide user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 the media
guidance application itself or software updates for the media
guidance application.
[0065] In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include
viewer data. For example, the viewer data may include current
and/or historical user activity information (e.g., what content the
user typically watches, what times of day the user watches content,
whether the user interacts with a social network, at what times the
user interacts with a social network to post information, what
types of content the user typically watches (e.g., pay TV or free
TV), mood, brain activity information, etc. In some aspects, the
media guidance data may further include information about whether a
user has previously accessed a media asset and, if so, whether the
media asset was watched in its entirety. If the media asset was
accessed but not watched in its entirety, the media guidance data
may include the position at which the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset. The media guidance data may also include
subscription data. For example, the subscription data may identify
to which sources or services a given user subscribes and/or to
which sources or services the given user has previously subscribed
but later terminated access (e.g., whether the user subscribes to
premium channels, whether the user has added a premium level of
services, whether the user has increased Internet speed). In some
embodiments, the viewer data and/or the subscription data may
identify patterns of a given user for a period of more than one
year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., a survivor
model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihood a
given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example,
the media guidance application may process the viewer data with the
subscription data using the model to generate a value or score that
indicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate
access to a particular service or source. In particular, a higher
score may indicate a higher level of confidence that the user will
terminate access to a particular service or source. Based on the
score, the media guidance application may generate promotions and
advertisements that entice the user to keep the particular service
or source indicated by the score as one to which the user will
likely terminate access.
[0066] Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-alone
applications implemented on user equipment devices. For example,
the media guidance application may be implemented as software or a
set of executable instructions which may be stored in storage 308,
and executed by control circuitry 304 of a user equipment device
300. In some embodiments, media guidance applications may be
client-server applications where only a client application resides
on the user equipment device, and server application resides on a
remote server. For example, media guidance applications may be
implemented partially as a client application on control circuitry
304 of user equipment device 300 and partially on a remote server
as a server application (e.g., media guidance data source 418)
running on control circuitry of the remote server. When executed by
control circuitry of the remote server (such as media guidance data
source 418), the media guidance application may instruct the
control circuitry to generate the guidance application displays and
transmit the generated displays to the user equipment devices. The
server application may instruct the control circuitry of the media
guidance data source 418 to transmit data for storage on the user
equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry of
the receiving user equipment to generate the guidance application
displays.
[0067] Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user
equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 may be over-the-top (OTT)
content. OTT content delivery allows Internet-enabled user devices,
including any user equipment device described above, to receive
content that is transferred over the Internet, including any
content described above, in addition to content received over cable
or satellite connections. OTT content is delivered via an Internet
connection provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), but a
third party distributes the content. The ISP may not be responsible
for the viewing abilities, copyrights, or redistribution of the
content, and may only transfer IP packets provided by the OTT
content provider. Examples of OTT content providers include
YOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IP
packets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is a
trademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by
Hulu, LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively
provide media guidance data described above. In addition to content
and/or media guidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute
media guidance applications (e.g., web-based applications or
cloud-based applications), or the content can be displayed by media
guidance applications stored on the user equipment device.
[0068] Media guidance system 400 is intended to illustrate a number
of approaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment
devices and sources of content and guidance data may communicate
with each other for the purpose of accessing content and providing
media guidance. The embodiments described herein may be applied in
any one or a subset of these approaches, or in a system employing
other approaches for delivering content and providing media
guidance. The following four approaches provide specific
illustrations of the generalized example of FIG. 4.
[0069] In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with
each other within a home network. User equipment devices can
communicate with each other directly via short-range point-to-point
communication schemes described above, via indirect paths through a
hub or other similar device provided on a home network, or via
communications network 414. Each of the multiple individuals in a
single home may operate different user equipment devices on the
home network. As a result, it may be desirable for various media
guidance information or settings to be communicated between the
different user equipment devices. For example, it may be desirable
for users to maintain consistent media guidance application
settings on different user equipment devices within a home network,
as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different
types of user equipment devices in a home network may also
communicate with each other to transmit content. For example, a
user may transmit content from user computer equipment to a
portable video player or portable music player.
[0070] In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user
equipment by which they access content and obtain media guidance.
For example, some users may have home networks that are accessed by
in-home and mobile devices. Users may control in-home devices via a
media guidance application implemented on a remote device. For
example, users may access an online media guidance application on a
website via a personal computer at their office, or a mobile device
such as a PDA or web-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set
various settings (e.g., recordings, reminders, or other settings)
on the online guidance application to control the user's in-home
equipment. The online guide may control the user's equipment
directly, or by communicating with a media guidance application on
the user's in-home equipment. Various systems and methods for user
equipment devices communicating, where the user equipment devices
are in locations remote from each other, is discussed in, for
example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issued Oct. 25,
2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its
entirety.
[0071] In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside
and outside a home can use their media guidance application to
communicate directly with content source 416 to access content.
Specifically, within a home, users of user television equipment 402
and user computer equipment 404 may access the media guidance
application to navigate among and locate desirable content. Users
may also access the media guidance application outside of the home
using wireless user communications devices 406 to navigate among
and locate desirable content.
[0072] In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in
a cloud computing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud
computing environment, various types of computing services for
content sharing, storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites
or social networking sites) are provided by a collection of
network-accessible computing and storage resources, referred to as
"the cloud." For example, the cloud can include a collection of
server computing devices, which may be located centrally or at
distributed locations, that provide cloud-based services to various
types of users and devices connected via a network such as the
Internet via communications network 414. These cloud resources may
include one or more content sources 416 and one or more media
guidance data sources 418. In addition or in the alternative, the
remote computing sites may include other user equipment devices,
such as user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404,
and wireless user communications device 406. For example, the other
user equipment devices may provide access to a stored copy of a
video or a streamed video. In such embodiments, user equipment
devices may operate in a peer-to-peer manner without communicating
with a central server.
[0073] The cloud provides access to services, such as content
storage, content sharing, or social networking services, among
other examples, as well as access to any content described above,
for user equipment devices. Services can be provided in the cloud
through cloud computing service providers, or through other
providers of online services. For example, the cloud-based services
can include a content storage service, a content sharing site, a
social networking site, or other services via which user-sourced
content is distributed for viewing by others on connected devices.
These cloud-based services may allow a user equipment device to
store content to the cloud and to receive content from the cloud
rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-stored
content.
[0074] A user may use various content capture devices, such as
camcorders, digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders,
mobile phones, and handheld computing devices, to record content.
The user can upload content to a content storage service on the
cloud either directly, for example, from user computer equipment
404 or wireless user communications device 406 having content
capture feature. Alternatively, the user can first transfer the
content to a user equipment device, such as user computer equipment
404. The user equipment device storing the content uploads the
content to the cloud using a data transmission service on
communications network 414. In some embodiments, the user equipment
device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipment devices
can access the content directly from the user equipment device on
which the user stored the content.
[0075] Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device
using, for example, a web browser, a media guidance application, a
desktop application, a mobile application, and/or any combination
of access applications of the same. The user equipment device may
be a cloud client that relies on cloud computing for application
delivery, or the user equipment device may have some functionality
without access to cloud resources. For example, some applications
running on the user equipment device may be cloud applications,
i.e., applications delivered as a service over the Internet, while
other applications may be stored and run on the user equipment
device. In some embodiments, a user device may receive content from
multiple cloud resources simultaneously. For example, a user device
can stream audio from one cloud resource while downloading content
from a second cloud resource. Or a user device can download content
from multiple cloud resources for more efficient downloading. In
some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloud resources
for processing operations such as the processing operations
performed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG.
3.
[0076] FIG. 5 shows an illustrative display screen that may be used
to provide media guidance in relation to previously-viewed media
assets, in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure. As discussed in relation to FIG. 3, control circuitry
304 of user equipment device 300 may generate for display on
display 312 a media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) in
response to receiving a user selection to tune to a source that
transmits one or more media assets to a plurality of users (e.g., a
broadcast channel). Display screen 500 may include a transport bar
510 that visualizes whether the media asset currently being
displayed has previously been viewed by the user. Display screen
500 may further contain an options menu 530 that provides a listing
of media guidance functions that may be executed in relation to the
previously-viewed media asset.
[0077] In some embodiments, transport bar 510 includes a start time
520 and a stop time 518 to indicate the start time and the end time
of the media asset currently being generated for display on display
screen 500. Start time 520 and stop time 518 may be shown in
absolute terms (e.g., the time of day at which a broadcast of the
media asset started).
[0078] Alternatively, start time 520 and stop time 518 may be shown
in relative terms, e.g., in relation to the duration of the media
asset. In the latter case, start time 520 may be equal to "0:00"
and stop time 518 may be equal to the duration of the media asset
(e.g., "0:30" for a show that lasts 30 minutes). Similar ways of
showing the start and end times of a media asset may be used
without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
Transport bar 510 further includes indicator 512, which marks the
current play position of the media asset, i.e., the portion of the
media asset that is currently being received from the source of the
media asset (e.g., the broadcast channel). The portion of the
transport bar up to indicator 512 may be graphically distinguished
from other parts of the transport bar in order to highlight the
current play position. Transport bar 510 further includes indicator
516, which corresponds to a play position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset. Indicator 516 may be
visually distinguished from indicator 512 by using a different type
of marker to indicate the position on the transport bar or in any
other suitable way. Indicator 516 may further be associated with
information box 522, which may provide additional information about
when the user previously stopped viewing the media asset. For
example, in some embodiments, information box 522 may include text
that informs the user that the media asset has previously been
viewed, and information box 522 may include the date and the time
on which the media asset was last viewed. Information box 522 may
be shown in proximity of indicator 516 in order to make clear the
relation between information box 522 and indicator 516.
[0079] Control circuitry 304 may determine the position of
indicator 512, which denotes the current play position, in several
ways. In one approach, control circuitry 304 may determine the
start and stop time of the media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV
show) by accessing program listing information stored in a media
guidance database, either locally on user equipment device 300 or
on a remote server. Control circuitry 304 may use a content source
identifier (e.g., the identifier of the broadcast channel, such as
"ABC") to determine the start time and the stop time of the media
asset currently being received from the source (e.g., a broadcast
channel). Control circuitry 304 may then compare the start time and
the stop time with a current system time received from a suitable
component of user equipment device 300 or the remote server. In
this way, control circuitry 304 may determine the amount of time
that has elapsed since the transmission of the media asset by the
content source began, and accordingly, the current play position
relative to the start time and the stop time. In a second approach,
control circuitry 304 may receive control information together with
media data received from the source. The control data may include
information about the position of the currently transmitted portion
of the media asset relative to the start time and the stop time of
the media asset, such as by including a frame number as control
data. When appropriate, the first approach and the second approach
may be used together, or they may be combined with other suitable
techniques for determining the current play position of a media
asset.
[0080] Control circuitry 304 may determine the position of
indicator 516, which denotes the position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset by retrieving and
processing an entry from the user's viewing history that
corresponds to the media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show). For
example, in some embodiments control circuitry 304 may receive the
matching entry from storage 308 of user equipment device 300, or
control circuitry 304 may receive the matching entry from a remote
server. If control circuitry 304 determines that multiple entries
in the user's viewing history match a media asset identifier
associated with the media asset, then either all matching entries
or a subset thereof may be received by control circuitry 304. For
example, in some aspects, control circuitry 304 may receive only
the matching entry with a most recent "last view time field" or a
matching entry that was most recently added to the viewing history.
Alternatively, all matching entries for a specific time period may
be retrieved, such as all matching entries in viewing history 700
that have a last watched time field within the past two months. In
response to receiving a matching entry from the viewing history,
control circuitry 304 may determine a first play position at which
the user previously stopped viewing the identified media asset
(e.g., an episode of a TV show) based on the last view time field
of the viewing history. For example, as will be discussed in
relation to FIG. 7, the last view time field for the first entry of
viewing history 700 indicates that the first five minutes and
twenty seconds of the first episode of the second season of "The
Sopranos" have been watched by the user. Control circuitry 304 may
then place indicator 516 according to the determined position at
which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset.
[0081] Although not shown in FIG. 5, to avoid overcomplicating the
drawing, more than one indicator 516 of a position at which a user
previously stopped viewing the media asset may be generated for
display. For example, if two or more users are watching the media
asset together, each of the two or more users may have previously
watched the media asset and stopped viewing it at a respective
position. The positions at which each of the two or more users has
previously stopped viewing the media asset may be shown using
multiple indicators 516. The multiple indicators may be graphically
accentuated to distinguish them from one another, and a user
identifier may be generated for display next to each of the
multiple indicators in order to illustrate with which of the users
the indicator is associated.
[0082] Display screen 500 may further include options menu 530,
which lists a number of media guidance functions that may be
performed by control circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300 in
relation to previously-viewed media assets. Options menu 530 may be
generated for display in response to determining that the media
asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) currently being received from
the source (e.g., a broadcast channel) has previously been viewed
by the user, or it may be generated for display in response to
control circuitry 304 receiving a selection from a user to generate
options menu 530 for display. Options menu 530 may include a number
of media guidance functions 532, 534, 536, and 538. Options menu
530 may be closed in response to control circuitry 304 receiving a
selection of option 540 to "go back." Media guidance function
listings 532-538 may be visually distinguished from one another,
for example, to highlight which of media guidance function listings
532-538 are available to be executed. Depending on the position of
indicators 512 and 516, only a subset of media guidance function
listings 532-538 may be available to be executed by control
circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300.
[0083] In some embodiments, if indicator 516 is associated with an
earlier time than indicator 512, i.e., if the current play position
is prior to the position at which the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset, then media guidance function listings 532,
534, and 536 may be available to be executed by control circuitry
304. Media guidance function listing 532 corresponds to generating
for display the media asset from a play position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset. As will be discussed in
relation to FIG. 8, control circuitry 304 may perform this function
by retrieving a stored or buffered version of the media asset, if
one is available. For example, control circuitry 304 of user
equipment device 300 may automatically record or buffer media
assets of a selected number of sources. The recordings may be
retained for a predefined amount of time or until a finite amount
of capacity of storage 308 requires some content to be overwritten.
If a stored or buffered version of the media asset is not
available, for example because it was not recorded or because it
was overwritten with other content, then media guidance function
listing 532 may be omitted or it may be visually distinguished from
other media guidance functions in order to make clear to the user
that media guidance function listing 532 is not available to be
executed.
[0084] Media guidance function listing 534 corresponds to
generating for display the media asset from the beginning of the
media asset. Similar to media guidance function listing 532,
control circuitry 304 may perform this function by retrieving a
stored or buffered version of the media asset, if one is available.
If a stored or buffered version of the media asset is not
available, for example because it was not recorded or because it
was overwritten with other content, then media guidance function
listing 534 may be omitted or it may be visually distinguished from
other media guidance function listings in order to make clear to
the user that media guidance function listing 534 is not available
to be executed.
[0085] Media guidance function listing 536 corresponds to
generating for display the media asset by retrieving it from an
on-demand source. For example, if a recorded or buffered version of
the media asset is not available, then media guidance function
listing 536 may be an alternative that retrieves the media from a
different source, e.g., a source that provides on-demand streaming
of media assets (e.g., episodes of a TV show). As will be discussed
in relation to FIG. 8, control circuitry 304 of user equipment
device 300, in response to receiving a selection of media guidance
function listing 536 from the user, may access one or more sources
that provide on-demand streaming of media assets to determine
whether the media asset is available for streaming. If the media
asset is available for retrieval, then control circuitry 304 may
generate for display the media from the position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset. Alternatively, if
payment is required to access the media asset on-demand, control
circuitry 304 may prompt the user whether to proceed by generating
for display a message on display screen 500 (not shown). In
response to control circuitry 304 receiving confirmation from the
user to proceed with the purchase of the media asset, control
circuitry 304 may generate for display the media asset (e.g., the
episode of the TV show) from the position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset. Alternatively, control
circuitry 304 may generate for display the media asset from the
beginning instead of from the position at which the user previously
stopped viewing the media asset. In some embodiments, control
circuitry 304 may determine, prior to media guidance function
listing 536 being selected by the user, whether the media asset is
available from an on-demand source. Depending on the determination,
media guidance function 536 may be visually distinguished, for
example by altering a shading of media guidance function listing
536. In this way, the user may be informed as to whether the media
asset is available to be generated for display on demand, prior to
control circuitry 304 receiving a selection of media guidance
function listing 536 from the user.
[0086] In some embodiments, if indicator 516 is associated with a
later time than indicator 512, i.e., if the current play position
is after the position at which the user previously stopped viewing
the media asset, then media guidance function listings 536 and 538
may be available to be executed by control circuitry 304 of user
equipment device 300. Media guidance function listing 536
corresponds to generating for display the media asset by retrieving
it from an on-demand source, and media guidance function listing
536 may be executed in a substantially similar way as discussed in
relation to the embodiment in which indicator 516 is associated
with a time prior to indicator 512. Media guidance function listing
538 corresponds to reminding the user when the current play
position (e.g., a current broadcast position) reaches the position
at which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset, i.e.,
the time at which indicator 512 reached indicator 516. Media
guidance function listing 538 may be executed by control circuitry
304 receiving a selection of media guidance function listing 538
from the user. In response to the selection, control circuitry 304
may enable the user to switch to a different content source (e.g.,
to tune to a different broadcast channel) in order to watch other
media assets, to browse for other content in the media guide, or to
invoke other applications of the media guidance application. At the
same time, control circuitry 304 monitors the current play position
(e.g., the current broadcast position) of the media asset to
determine when the current play position reaches the position at
which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset. When
control circuitry 304 determines that the current play position has
reached the position at which the user previously stopped viewing
the media asset, control circuitry 304 may automatically tune to
the source of the media asset (e.g., the broadcast channel from
which the media asset is being received). Alternatively or
additionally, a reminder may be generated for display that informs
the user that the current play position has reached the position at
which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset.
[0087] FIG. 6 shows illustrative display screen 600 that may be
used to provide media guidance in relation to previously-viewed
media assets, in accordance with some embodiments of the
disclosure. As discussed in relation to FIG. 3, control circuitry
304 may generate for display on display 312 a media asset in
response to receiving a user selection to tune to a source that
transmits one or more media assets to a plurality of users (e.g., a
broadcast channel). Display screen 600 includes a display of a
different media asset than display screen 500 because display
screen 600 corresponds to a different source (e.g., a different
broadcast channel) than display screen 500. Display screen 600 may
include a notification box 610 that is generated for display in
relation to media guidance function listing 538. In particular, the
execution of media guidance function listing 538 may have been
started in response to control circuitry 304 receiving a user
selection of media guidance function listing 538 in relation to
another media asset shown on a different channel.
[0088] Notification box 610 may include text that identifies the
media asset and the channel for which media guidance function 538
was invoked. For example, if control circuitry 304 executed media
guidance function listing 538 in response to receiving a user
selection of media guidance function listing 538 while an episode
of "The Sopranos" was being generated for display on channel "CH1,"
then notification box 610 may alert the user that the current play
position (e.g., the current broadcast position) of The Sopranos on
channel CH1 has reached the position at which the user previously
stopped viewing by prompting the user whether to "resume watching
The Sopranos on CH1 from the previously-viewed play position" or a
similar text. Notification box 610 may further include several
selectable buttons. For example, in response to control circuitry
304 receiving a selection of button 612, control circuitry 304 may
automatically switch to the source transmitting the media asset for
which media guidance function listing 538 was executed (e.g., the
broadcast channel for which media guidance function listing 538 was
executed). Alternatively, in response to control circuitry 304
receiving a selection of button 614, media guidance function 538
may be canceled and control circuitry 304 may continue to display
the content source currently being accessed (e.g., the broadcast
channel being shown in display screen 600), instead of switching to
the channel in relation to which media guidance function listing
538 was executed. In some embodiments, information box 610 may
comprise a countdown 616. Upon expiration of a predefined time
period, control circuitry 304 may automatically switch the channel
to display the media asset for which media guidance function
listing 538 was executed.
[0089] FIG. 7 shows an illustrative viewing history 700 that stores
play positions at which a user previously stopped viewing a media
asset (e.g., a movie or an episode of a TV show), in accordance
with some embodiments of the disclosure. Viewing history 700
includes various information associated with media assets that have
previously been viewed by a user. For example, viewing history 700
may include a program name of the media asset, an episode
identifier (if applicable), a play position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset, and a user identifier.
The program name may correspond to the title of the media asset
(e.g., the title of a movie, the title of a series, or any other
suitable text to identify the media asset). For example, in some
embodiments, the program name in viewing history 700 may be the
same as the program listing of the media asset in the media
guidance application. Viewing history 700 may further include an
episode field that includes an identifier of the season and episode
for a media asset that belongs to a series. The episode field of
viewing history 700 may be left empty for media assets that do not
belong to a series. Viewing history 700 may further include a user
identifier that identifies the user with whom the entry in the
viewing history is associated. For example, the user identifier may
identify a user by his or her first name, which may be suitable if
viewing history 700 is stored locally in user equipment device 300
(e.g., in storage 308) or if the user identifier need only
differentiate a small number of users who have access to user
equipment device 300 (e.g., the members of a family).
Alternatively, user identifier may correspond to a globally unique
identifier such as an email address, a user name, a nickname, or
any other suitable identifier. A globally unique identifier may be
useful if a large number of users needs to be differentiated, such
as when viewing history 700 is stored on a remote server that
provides service to a large number of users.
[0090] Viewing history 700 may be defined using one or more data
structures and stored using any suitable database format. In some
aspects, if viewing history 700 is stored locally on user equipment
device 300, control circuitry 304 may retrieve one or more entries
of viewing history 700 by directly searching one or more files that
contain viewing history 700 (e.g., in form of a text file), or by
issuing a query to a locally stored database. If viewing history
700 is stored on a remote server, control circuitry 304 may issue a
query to the remotely stored database. In some aspects, the format
of the database query may be in accordance with a standardized
format, such as using the Structured Query Language (SQL). Based on
such a standardized query format, control circuitry 304 may
efficiently access viewing history 700, which may be particularly
important if viewing history 700 is shared among many users and
therefore large in size. For example, control circuitry 304 may
access viewing history 700 based on a query that combines multiple
fields of the using history, such as the user identifier, the title
field, and the episode field. In some embodiments, by including a
number of fields in the query, the database may be searched more
effectively. In response to receiving a search query from control
circuitry 304, the remote server may identify entries in viewing
history 700 that match the search queries. Control circuitry 304
may then receive the matching entries from the remote server.
[0091] In some embodiments, viewing history 700 may be stored
automatically by control circuitry 304. For example, every time a
user accessed a media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show),
control circuitry 304 may generate a listing in viewing history
700. In some aspects, control circuitry 304 may generate a listing
only when a media asset is accessed for longer than a predetermined
time. For example, if a media asset is accessed for only a few
seconds, no listing in viewing history 700 may be generated. This
avoids that entries are generated when a user is merely "channel
surfing" to identify content to watch. In another embodiment, if
more than a predetermined fraction of a media asset has been
accessed by the user (e.g., more than 95% of the media asset has
been watched), the media asset may be marked as having been fully
viewed in viewing history 700. This avoids that media assets are
listed as partially viewed, e.g., when a user stops a media asset
to avoid viewing the credits of a movie.
[0092] FIG. 8A is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in
providing media guidance in relation to previously viewed media
assets, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. At
step 802, control circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300
receives a user request to access a content source (e.g., a
broadcast channel). For example, a user may tune to a broadcast
channel that is currently airing a media asset (e.g., an episode of
a TV show).
[0093] At step 804, in response to receiving the user request,
control circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300 identifies the
media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) currently being
transmitted by the content source (e.g., the broadcast channel). In
some embodiments, control circuitry 304 identifies the media asset
by determining the current system time and an identifier of the
content source (e.g., an identifier of the broadcast channel, such
as "ABC"). Control circuitry 304 may determine the current system
time and the content source identifier by reading it from storage
308 or by retrieving it from another suitable component of user
equipment device 300. Based on the system time and the content
source identifier, control circuitry 304 may access a media
guidance database, stored locally on storage 308 or remotely on a
remote server. Control circuitry 304 retrieves a program listing
from the media guidance database corresponding to the current
system time and the content source identifier. Alternatively or
additionally, control circuitry 304 may receive the content source
identifier directly from the content source or from a third party
source independently of the media guidance application.
[0094] At step 806, control circuitry 304 may identify a set of
users currently watching or using user equipment device 300.
Control circuitry 304 may identify the set of users using a number
of suitable ways. In one approach, control circuitry 306 may
generate a display on screen 312 of user equipment device 300 that
prompts users to input a user identifier, such as a user name, a
screen name, a login name, or any other suitable identifier. More
than one user identifier may be received by control circuitry 304
in case that more than one user is watching or using user equipment
device 300. In a second approach, control circuitry 304 may
determine the set of users currently watching or using user
equipment device 300 by receiving an input from a remote control
unit. For example, control circuitry 304 may receive an input from
each user currently watching or using user equipment device 300,
such as each user pressing one or more designated buttons on a
remote control. Control circuitry 304 may then associate the input
received from each user with respective user identifiers. In a
third approach, each user in the set of users may wear or have
implanted electronic circuitry, such as a microchip,
radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit, or similar
electronic circuitry. Control circuitry 304 may cause radio
frequency circuitry of user equipment device 300 to periodically
look for such electronic circuitry and, when found, associate them
with respective user identifiers. In some embodiments, control
circuitry 304 may use a combination of these three approaches, or
combine them with other suitable techniques, to identify the set of
users currently watching or using user equipment device 300.
[0095] At step 808, in response to identifying the set of users
currently watching or using user equipment device 300, control
circuitry 304 may associate one or more user identifiers with the
set of users currently watching or using user equipment device 300.
The user identifiers associated with the set of users may be
employed by control circuitry 304 to access a viewing history for
each user in the set of users. In some embodiments, for example, if
viewing histories of each user in the set of users are stored
locally on storage 308 of user equipment device 300, it may not be
necessary to associate a separate identifier with each user in the
set of users. Instead, it may suffice to access the locally stored
viewing history using the user identifiers determined in step 806
above. In other embodiments, especially if viewing histories for
the set of users are stored remotely, for example, on a remote
server, then control circuitry 304 may need to convert the local
user identifier to user identifiers that specifically identify a
user on the remote server. For example, in order for the remote
server to specifically identify a user, the user's email address,
phone number, first and last name, address, social security number,
or any other suitable personal identifier may be used. Although not
shown in FIG. 8A, control circuitry 304 or the remote server may
assign identifiers to a group of users, such as a family watching
or using user equipment device 300 together. Alternatively or
additionally, control circuitry 304 may group users according to
the users' preferences or other factors (e.g., parents and children
may constitute different groups of users).
[0096] At step 810, control circuitry 304 of user equipment device
300 may access a viewing history using the user identifiers
determined at step 808. In some embodiments, the viewing history
may be stored locally in user equipment device 300, such as in
storage 308. In other embodiments, the viewing history may be
stored remotely at a remote server, such as in a database stored in
media guidance data source 418. The viewing history may also be
stored partially on user equipment device 300 and partially on a
remote server.
[0097] As discussed in relation to FIG. 7, viewing history 700 may
include a plurality of fields, such as a program name field, an
episode field, a last view time field, a user identifier field, and
any other suitable types of fields. The program name field may
include text that identifies the media asset, such as its title
(e.g., the title of a TV show, such as "The Sopranos"). The episode
field may be used by control circuitry 304 to provide further
identifying information for series content, such as season and
episode number (e.g., Season 2, Episode 1 of "The Sopranos"). The
last view time field may include the position, relative to the
beginning of the media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show), at
which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset. In some
aspects, control circuitry 304 may encode the position at which the
user previously stopped viewing the media asset in a different
format, for example, in terms of a percentage of the media asset
watched (e.g., 30% of the media asset have been watched), in terms
of a frame number (e.g., 500 frames of the media asset have been
watched), or using any other suitable metric. User ID field may be
used by control circuitry 304 to specifically identify a user to
whom an entry in the viewing history belongs. For example, as is
discussed in relation to FIG. 7, an entry of the viewing history
may have a program name field equal to "The Sopranos" to denote the
TV show with the same name, an episode field equal to "Season 2,
Episode 1" to denote a corresponding episode, a last view time
field equal to "5:20" to denote that five minutes and twenty
seconds of the "The Sopranos" episode have been watched, and a user
identifier field equal to "John" that specifically identifies user
"John" by his first name. In some aspects, although not shown in
FIG. 7, viewing history 700 may further include fields that
represent the date and time at which a user has last watched the
media asset. For example, a last watched field may indicate that a
user has previously viewed a portion of the media asset on a
specific date and time (e.g., on Feb. 14, 2014 at 2:34 PM).
[0098] At step 814, control circuitry 304 of user equipment device
300 may determine whether viewing history 700 contains at least one
matching entry for the identified media asset and the identified
user identifier. If control circuitry 304 determines that no
matching entry is contained in viewing history 700, then control
circuitry 304 may proceed by performing steps 808, 810, and 814 for
another user, i.e., by associating a next user in the set of users
with a respective user identifier.
[0099] In response to control circuitry 304 determining that a
matching entry has been found in viewing history 700 at step 814,
control circuitry 304 may retrieve the matching entry from viewing
history 700. For example, in some embodiments control circuitry 304
may receive the matching entry from storage 308 of user equipment
device 300, or control circuitry 304 may receive the matching entry
from a remote server. If control circuitry 304 determines that
multiple entries in viewing history 700 match the media asset
identifier and the identified user identifier, then either all
matching entries or a subset thereof may be received by control
circuitry 304. For example, in some aspects, control circuitry 304
may receive only the matching entry with the most recent "last
watch time field" or the matching entry that was most recently
added to viewing history 700. Alternatively, all matching entries
for a specific time period may be retrieved, such as all matching
entries in viewing history 700 that have a last watched time field
within the past two months.
[0100] Control circuitry 304 may retrieve matching entries from
viewing history 700 in a number of ways. For example, if viewing
history 700 is stored locally on user equipment device 300, control
circuitry 304 may retrieve one or more entries of viewing history
700 by directly searching one or more files that contain viewing
history 700 (e.g., in form of a text file), or by issuing a query
to a locally stored database. If viewing history 700 is stored on a
remote server, control circuitry 304 may issue a query to the
remotely stored database. In some aspects, the format of the
database query may be in accordance with a standardized format,
such as using the Structured Query Language (SQL). Based on such a
standardized query format, control circuitry 304 may efficiently
access viewing history 700, which may be particularly important if
viewing history 700 is shared among many users and therefore large
in size. For example, control circuitry 304 may access viewing
history 700 based on a query that combines multiple fields of the
using history, such as the user identifier, the title field, and
the episode field. In some embodiments, by including a number of
fields in the query, the database may be searched more effectively.
In response to receiving a search query from control circuitry 304,
the remote server may identify entries in viewing history 700 that
match the search queries. Control circuitry 304 may then receive
the matching entries from the remote server.
[0101] At step 818, in response to receiving a matching entry from
viewing history 700, control circuitry 304 may determine a first
play position at which the user previously stopped viewing the
identified media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) based on the
last view time field of viewing history 700. For example, as
discussed in relation to FIG. 7, the last view time field for the
first entry of viewing history 700, indicates that the first five
minutes and twenty seconds of the first episode of the second
season of "The Sopranos" have been watched by the user.
[0102] At step 820, control circuitry 304 may determine a second
play position corresponding to a portion of the media asset
currently being transmitted by the source (e.g., a broadcast
channel). In some embodiments, the second play position may also be
referred to a current play position. Control circuitry 304 may
determine the current play position in several ways. In one
approach, control circuitry 304 may determine the start and stop
time of the media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) by
accessing program listing information stored in a media guidance
database, either locally on user equipment device 300 or on a
remote server. Control circuitry 304 may use a content source
identifier (e.g., the identifier of the broadcast channel, such as
"ABC") to determine the start time and the stop time of the media
asset currently being received from the source (e.g., a broadcast
channel). Control circuitry 304 may then compare the start time and
the stop time with a current system time received from a suitable
component of user equipment device 300 or the remote server. In
this way, control circuitry 304 may determine the amount of time
that has elapsed since the transmission of the media asset by the
content source began, and accordingly, the current play position
relative to the start time and the stop time. In a second approach,
control circuitry 304 may receive control information together with
media data received from the source. The control data may include
information about the position of the currently transmitted portion
of the media asset relative to the start time and the stop time of
the media asset, such as by including a frame number as control
data. When appropriate, the first approach and the second approach
may be used together, or they may be combined with other suitable
techniques for determining the current play position of a media
asset.
[0103] At step 822, control circuitry 304 may determine whether a
transport bar including the first and the second play position
should be generated for display. In some embodiments, control
circuitry 304 may make this determination based on a user profile
setting, such as a setting that indicates whether transport bar 510
should be generated for display automatically, without receiving an
input from the user, or whether transport bar 510 should be
generated for display only after receiving respective input from
the user. In the latter case, the user may be presented with a
message by control circuitry 304, such as a message informing the
user that the media asset has previously been viewed and that a
position corresponding to the time at which the user previously
stopped viewing the media asset may be generated for display.
Control circuitry 304 may inform the user by generating for display
a visual indicator, such as an icon, or by generating for display a
message that includes suitable information.
[0104] In response to control circuitry 304 determining that
transport bar 510 should be generated for display, control
circuitry 304 may generate for display the transport bar at step
824. As discussed in relation to FIG. 5, transport bar 510 may
visualize whether the media asset currently being displayed has
previously been viewed by the user. Transport bar 510 includes a
start time 520 and a stop time 518 to indicate the start time and
the end time of the media asset currently being generated for
display. Transport bar 510 further includes indicator 512, which
marks the current play position of the media asset, i.e., the
portion of the media asset that is currently being received from
the source of the media asset (e.g., the broadcast channel). The
portion of the transport bar up to indicator 512 may be graphically
distinguished from other parts of the transport bar in order to
highlight the current play position. Transport bar 510 further
includes indicator 516, which corresponds to a play position at
which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset.
Indicator 516 may be visually distinguished from indicator 512 by
using a different type of marker to indicate the position on the
transport bar or in any other suitable way. Indicator 516 may
further be associated with information box 522, which may provide
additional information about when the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset. For example, in some embodiments,
information box 522 may include text that informs the user that the
media asset has previously been viewed, and information box 522 may
include the date and the time on which the media asset was last
viewed. Information box 522 may be shown in proximity of indicator
516 in order to make clear the relation between information box 522
and indicator 516.
[0105] In some aspects, only a subset of the components of
transport bar 510 may be generated for display, or transport bar
510 may be augmented with other suitable components to visually
distinguish the first and second play positions of the media asset
(e.g., an episode of a TV show). Alternatively, should control
circuitry 304 determine that transport bar 510 should not be
generated for display, step 824 may be skipped and control
circuitry 304 may proceed to process step 826.
[0106] At step 826, control circuitry 304 of user equipment device
300 may determine if the first play position corresponds to an
earlier time than the second play position. If control circuitry
304 determines that the first play position corresponds to an
earlier time than the second play position, control circuitry 304
may resume processing at point "A" in FIG. 8B. Otherwise, control
circuitry 304 may resume processing at point "B" in FIG. 8C. In
some embodiments, if multiple matching entries were identified in
the viewing history, control circuitry 304 may determine multiple
first play positions for each of the matching entries and may
compare each of the more than one first play positions with the
second play position. Control circuitry 304 may further receive
input from the user that selects one of the multiple first play
positions. Control circuitry 304 may thus determine with respect to
which of the multiple first play positions, at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset, a media guidance
function should be executed.
[0107] FIG. 8B shows illustrative steps involved in providing media
guidance in relation to previously-viewed media assets when a
current viewing position occurs earlier than a position at which
the user previously stopped viewing the media asset, in accordance
with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0108] At step 830, control circuitry 304 of user equipment device
300 may determine if a local recording of the media asset (e.g., an
episode of a TV show) is available to be accessed from a storage
medium. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 may determine
whether a recording of the media asset is available by searching
local storage components of user equipment device 300, such as
storage 308. In other embodiments, storage on a remote server may
be included in the search, for example, if such remote storage is
accessible to control circuitry 304 without having to purchase
access to a stored copy of the media asset. For example, in some
embodiments, a user may have purchased rights to view or download
media assets previously, but the media assets may be stored on a
remote server (e.g., in an "app store") of a remote server. In some
aspects, control circuitry 304 may search for a stored version of
the media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) by searching
metadata associated with stored media assets, such as file names of
stored media files, or metadata otherwise associated with content
stored on local or remote storage media. In some aspects, if a
search result is identified, control circuitry 304 may generate a
display of the search results on display 312 and receive a user
confirmation if at least one of the search results is deemed
satisfactory by the user. For example, if multiple versions of a
media asset are stored (e.g., an edited and an unedited version of
the same movie), control circuitry 304 may prompt the user to
select which of the versions should be selected.
[0109] If control circuitry 304 determines that a local recording
of the media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) is available,
control circuitry 304 may prompt the user whether to display the
media asset from the first play position, i.e., from the position
at which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset. In
response to control circuitry 304 receiving an indication that the
user wants the media asset to be generated for display from that
position, control circuitry 304 may then generate for display the
media asset from the position at which the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset.
[0110] Alternatively, if control circuitry 304 receives an
indication that the user does not want to generate for display the
media asset from the position at which the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset, control circuitry 304 may prompt the user
whether to generate for display the media asset from the beginning.
Responsive to control circuitry 304 receiving an indication that
the user wants to generate for display the media asset from the
beginning, control circuitry 304 may then generate for display the
media asset from the beginning.
[0111] Alternatively, if control circuitry 304 determines at step
830 that no local recording of the media asset is available,
control circuitry 304 may determine, at step 832, whether the media
asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show) can be accessed on-demand.
Control circuitry 304 may determine if the media asset can be
accessed on-demand, by searching a number of on-demand content
providers (e.g., Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc.) for matching media
asset listings. If control circuitry 304 determines that there are
a number of matching media asset listings, either from the same or
from multiple content providers, control circuitry 304 may generate
a display of the matching entry or entries and prompt the user to
select which of the multiple media asset listings should be chosen.
The media asset listings that control circuitry 304 generates for
display may include purchase information in case payment is
required to access the listed media asset on-demand. For example,
if the media asset is available on-demand from multiple content
providers, the cost of the media asset may differ between the
providers. Control circuitry 304 thereby enables the user to
compare prices among content providers and select the listing that
is most appealing to the user. The purchase information generated
for display by control circuitry 304 may further include whether a
media asset is available as part of a user's subscription to an
on-demand content provider free of charge.
[0112] In response to control circuitry 304 determining that the
media asset is available to be accessed on-demand, control
circuitry 304 may generate for display an indication in options
menu 530 that media guidance function listing 536 is available to
be selected. In response to a user command, control circuitry 304
may access the media asset on-demand and generate for display the
media asset (e.g., an episode of a TV show). In one aspect, the
media asset may be streamed to user equipment 300 from a remote
server, and control circuitry 304 may generate for display the
media asset. For example, control circuitry 304 may generate for
display the media asset from the position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset. Alternatively, control
circuitry 304 may generate for display the media asset from the
beginning, in response to receiving a respective user
indication.
[0113] FIG. 8C shows illustrative steps involved in providing media
guidance in relation to previously-viewed media assets when a
current viewing position occurs earlier than a position at which
the user previously stopped viewing the media asset, in accordance
with some embodiments of the disclosure.
[0114] In some embodiments, because the current play position
occurs earlier than the position at which the user previously
stopped viewing the media asset, the portions of the media asset
between the current play position and the position at which the
user previously stopped viewing the media asset may not have been
automatically buffered by control circuitry 304 and a local
recording of these portions may thus not be available to control
circuitry 304. Accordingly, at step 860, control circuitry 304 may
determine whether the media asset is available to be accessed
on-demand. Similar to step 832, control circuitry 304 may determine
if the media asset is available to be accessed on-demand by
searching a number of on-demand content providers for matching
media asset listings. If control circuitry 304 determines that
there are a number of matching media asset listings, either from
the same or from multiple content providers, control circuitry 304
may generate a display of the matching entries and prompt the user
to select which of the multiple media asset listings should be
chosen. In response to the user selection, control circuitry 304
may generate for display the selected on-demand media asset listing
for display. In one aspect, the selected on-demand media asset
(e.g., an episode of a TV show) may be generated for display from
the position at which the user previously stopped viewing the media
asset. Alternatively, control circuitry 304 may generate for
display the media asset from the beginning, responsive to receiving
a respective user selection.
[0115] Alternatively, if control circuitry 304 determines at step
860 that the media asset is not available to be accessed on demand,
control circuitry 304 may keep monitoring the current play position
(e.g., the current broadcast position) to execute a media guidance
function once the current play position reaches the position at
which the user previously stopped viewing the media asset. For
example, in some aspects, control circuitry 304, at step 866, may
prompt the user whether to set a user alert, such that control
circuitry 304 alerts the user once the current play position has
reached the position at which the user previously stopped viewing
the media asset, e.g., by generating for display a dialog box.
Responsive to receiving a user indication to set a user alert,
control circuitry 304 monitors the current play position until
control circuitry 304 determines, at step 870, that the current
play position has reached the position at which the user previously
stopped viewing the media asset.
[0116] In response to determining that the current play position
has reached the position at which the user previously stopped
viewing the media asset, control circuitry 304 may determine, at
step 872, whether it should automatically tune to the source on
which the media asset is being received (e.g., the broadcast
channel). For example, in some aspects, after having received a
user instruction to set a user alert, at step 866, control
circuitry 304 may receive a user instruction to access a different
source (e.g., to tune to a different broadcast channel), while the
previously watched content is being received from the source. For
example, to avoid watching the previously-seen content again,
control circuitry 304 may receive a user instruction to generate
for display another media asset from a different source (e.g., the
different broadcast channel). If control circuitry 304 determines,
at step 872, that automatic tuning is configured, control circuitry
304 automatically, without further user input, selects the source
from which the media asset is being received and generates it for
display, at step 874, from the position at which the user
previously stopped viewing the media asset. Alternatively, if
control circuitry 304 determines that automatic tuning is not
configured, control circuitry 304 generates for display a reminder
that the current play position (e.g., the current broadcast
position) has reached the position at which the user previously
stopped viewing the media asset. In some embodiments, the reminder
may be similar to notification box 610. Responsive to generating
for display the reminder, control circuitry 304 may receive a user
instruction to switch to the source of the media asset (e.g., the
broadcast channel). Alternatively, control circuitry 304 may cancel
the reminder, in response to receiving a respective user
instruction, for example, if the user is no longer interested in
watching the media asset.
[0117] It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIGS.
8A-8C may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In
addition, the steps and descriptions described in relation to FIG.
12 may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the
purposes of this disclosure. For example, each of these steps may
be performed in any order or in parallel or substantially
simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or
method. Furthermore, it should be noted that any of the devices or
equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could be used to
perform one or more of the steps in FIGS. 8A-8C.
[0118] The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure
are presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation,
and the present disclosure is limited only by the claims which
follow. Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and
limitations described in any one embodiment may be applied to any
other embodiment herein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one
embodiment may be combined with any other embodiment in a suitable
manner, done in different orders, or done in parallel. In addition,
the systems and methods described herein may be performed in
real-time. It should also be noted, the systems and/or methods
described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with,
other systems and/or methods.
* * * * *
References