Interactive video distribution systems – Program – message – or commercial insertion or substitution
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-22
2002-03-12
Faile, Andrew (Department: 2812)
Interactive video distribution systems
Program, message, or commercial insertion or substitution
C725S119000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06357042
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is in the field of video broadcasting, and pertains more particularly to methods and apparatus for multiplexing separately-authored metadata for coordination with a main video data stream.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
With continuing development of new and better ways of delivering television and other video presentations to end users, and parallel development of computerized information systems, such as the Internet and the associated World Wide Web (WWW), there have been concerted efforts to integrate various systems to provide enhanced information delivery and entertainment systems. For example, developers are introducing integrated systems combining TVs with computer subsystems, so a TV may be used as a WEB browser, or a PC may be used for enhanced TV viewing.
In some systems computer elements, such as a CPU, memory, and the like, are built into the familiar chassis of a TV set. In such a system, the TV screen becomes the display monitor in the computer mode. In such a system, conventional TV elements and circuitry are incorporated along with the computer elements, and capability is provided for a user to switch modes, or to view recorded or broadcast video with added computer interaction. One may thus, with a properly equipped system, select to view analog TV programs, digital TV programs, conventional cable TV, satellite TV, pay TV from various sources, and browse the WWW as well, displaying WEB pages and interacting with on-screen fields and relational systems for jumping to related information, databases, and other WEB pages. The capabilities are often integrated into a single display, that is, one may view a broadcast presentation and also have a window on the display for WEB interaction.
In some other systems, computer elements are provided in an enclosure separate from the TV, often referred to in the art as a set-top box. Set-top box systems have an advantage for providers in that they may be connected to conventional television sets, so end users don't have to buy a new TV along with the computer elements.
In such integrated systems, whether in a single enclosure or as set-top box systems, user input is typically through a hand-held device quite similar to a familiar remote controller, usually having infra-red communication with the set-top box or a receiver in the integrated TV. For computer modes, such as WEB browsing, a cursor is displayed on the TV screen, and cursor manipulation is provided by buttons or other familiar pointer apparatus on the remote. Select buttons are also provided in the remote to perform the familiar function of such buttons on a pointer device, like a mouse or trackball more familiar to computer users.
Set-top boxes and computer-integrated TVs adapted as described above typically have inputs for such as a TV antenna (analog), cable TV (analog or digital), more recently direct-satellite TV (digital), and may also connect to video cassette recorders and to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and CD-ROM drives to provide a capability for uploading video data from such devices and presenting the dynamic result as a display on the TV screen.
The present inventors have noted that with the coupling of computer technology with TV, many capabilities familiar to computer users have been made available to TV users. For example, ability to provide text annotation for TV presentations is considerably enhanced. Computer techniques such a Pix-on-Pix are now available, wherein separate TV presentations may be made in separate windows, or overlaid windows on the display screen. Separate windows may also support display from separate sources, such as an analog TV program in one window, a computer game in another, and a video conference in a third.
With the technologies described above becoming more available in the market place, it has become desirable to further integrate the technologies described so that a user viewing a video presentation might be enabled to gather additional information about a specific image entity or entities portrayed in a video through interactive method. An ultimate goal is to provide a means for advertisers to promote and sell products through user interaction in a way that minimizes steps required by such a user to access additional information regarding traditionally advertised products such as through commercials and the like.
In typical prior art video authoring systems, end users receive a single video stream that contains the video data and any added annotated data such as subtitling, sponsor logos, information blocks, and the like. However, it is desirable to build upon the goal stated in the preceding paragraph above, by having separate streams, one containing video data, and the other containing annotative data, that may arrive at and end user's location via different delivery media and be displayed synchronously on a suitable display screen.
An authoring system, known to the inventor, may provide image tracking coordinates along with various further annotation, and may deliver separate streams via separate carriers to an end user. Also known to the inventor is a system for providing a means of applying a signature and associative frame identification to the separate streams respectively before broadcast so that both streams may later be re-synchronized at the user's end. Such a system is likewise described under the cross-referencing section.
In current art commercial programming, various companies may purchase advertising blocks or time slots from a content provider. The content provider then edits-in such commercials to the appropriate slots before broadcasting. Typically, such commercial ads may be local to an area of broadcast and are limited in profiling to those general demographics associated with a range or geography of local viewers. For example, in a broadcast football game, commercials may be geared to appealing to a general profile of a sports fan. For a cable channel carrying exclusively women's programming, advertisements would be geared more toward women in general. The profiling or focusing of advertisement a company can do is thus quite limited.
A system known to the inventors and disclosed in this patent application under the sub-heading below titled “Personalized and Interactive Ad System/Network” provides in one embodiment an Internet-connected subscription server running an ad-engine in the form of a software application that has ability to select video ads according to user profile and to stream such ads to a user along with a main video data stream. In some cases the ads are interactive. In systems wherein the main video and such video ads are sent by a common carrier, such as an Internet connection, the ads are inserted in the main video stream in the form of video metadata.
It is desirable that that more than one authoring station or system may be used when creating metadata for delivery to an end user, because there are a variety of functions that may be implemented through metadata. For example, it is desirable that separate authoring stations will be used in hyper-video authoring, such as in providing object tracking coordinates, creating hot spots (hyperlinks) in a video, providing interactive regions for tracked objects, inserting URL's, providing review markers by scene authoring, and so on. Scene authoring based on scene-change-detection-technology (SCDT) has several purposes, such as providing thumbnails as bookmarks for users to select and review particular portions of video presentations, and for markers for ad insertion or insertion of other information. In addition, separate ad information may be authored by yet additional authors and provided as metadata for delivery to an end user.
While combination of live video and live annotation streams is treated herein concerning hyper-video authoring and delivery, it is generally understood that in the live case, annotation streams may be timed to run in sync alongside or over a main video steam. This process is performed at the provider's end. However, th
Bhadada Kamal
Chakraborty Indranil
Mardikar Mohan
Rangan P Venkat
Shah Mehul Y
Boys Donald R.
Central Coast Patent Agency Inc.
Faile Andrew
Srivastava Vivek
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