1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to advertisement displaying devices and methods, particularly to an electronic device and method for searching product information in TV programs with product placements.
2. Description of Related Art
Product placement is increasingly becoming a popular form of advertising in today's media environment, especially with the growing use of digital recording devices such as TIVO and DVR that allow viewers to skip commercials. While there are numerous advantages to this marketing strategy, one major disadvantage is that the viewers have no concrete information on what the product is or even where to purchase it. This lack of information contributes the lack of sales growth often associated with effective advertising.
In general, the data “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be appreciated that modules may comprise connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and may comprise programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device.
In one embodiment, the electronic device 1 may be a computer, a TV, a portable electronic device, or any other electronic device that includes a storage system 12 and at least one processor 14.
The information searching unit 10 is configured to receive keywords of products that may be presented on the TV program, and use a search engine to search for related information of the products from a user 3. When a viewer 4 selects a product displayed on the TV program, the information searching unit 10 can load the keyword of the selected product in the search engine to search related information of the selected product, and displays the searched information on the display device 2. The search engine can be predetermined as will be shown below.
The display device 2 is used for receiving a selection operation of the product from the viewer 4, and displaying the searched information of the selected product. In the embodiment, the display device 2 is a touch-sensitive display or a 3D display, and can receive an input operation of the viewer 4 using a finger or a stylus pen. For example, if the electronic device 1 is a TV, the viewer 4 can use a remote control to operate (i.e., select a product) the electronic device 1.
In one embodiment, the storage system 12 may be a magnetic or an optical storage system, such as a hard disk drive, an optical drive, or a tape drive.
Before the display device 2 broadcasts a TV program, the enclosing module 100 encloses presented products of the TV program in a graphic box. The graphic box can be a rectangle, a circle, lines, or a box drawn by the user 3. In the embodiment, the definition module 102 defines a size of the graphic box according to a displayed size of the product on the display device 2.
The definition module 102 further defines the keywords of the products. For example, the definition module 102 defines “007watch” as a keyword of a watch that is worn by a man in a TV series.
The recording module 104 records the keywords in an image file that is compatible with the TV program. In one embodiment, the image file may be in a MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or an AVC format.
When the display device 2 displays the TV program, the receiving module 106 receives a selection operation of a product from the viewer 4. For example, if the display device 2 is a touch-sensitive display, the viewer 4 may use a finger to select the product presented on the TV program, and then the receiving module 106 receives the selection operation.
The searching module 108 loads the keywords of the selected product in a search engine, and searches related information of the selected product from networks using the search engine. In one embodiment, the search engine may be predetermined such as use of an Internet search engine or other searching tools, and the related information may be web pages, and/or website addresses. As mentioned above, the search engine may be predetermine or in other embodiments, be user-defined.
The output module 110 displays the searched information of the selected product on the display device 2, so the viewer 4 can browse the searched information from the display device 2.
In block S300, the enclosing module 100 encloses presented products of the TV program in a graphic box. In the embodiment, the TV program may be a movie, a TV series, or any other entertainment shown. The graphic box can be a rectangle, a circle, lines, or a box drawn by the user 3. In the embodiment, a size of the graphic box can be defined according to a displayed size of the product on the display device 2.
In block S302, the definition module 102 defines a keyword related to each product. Also, the recording module 104 records the keyword of each product in an image file that is compatible with the TV program. The image file may be in a MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or an AVC format.
When the display device 2 displays the TV program, in block S304, the receiving module 106 determines whether any product presented on the TV program has been selected by the viewer 4. In one example, the viewer 4 may touch the display device 2 with a finger to select the product. If any product has been selected, block S306 is implemented. If no product is selected, the flow ends.
In block S306, the searching module 108 loads the keywords of the selected product in a search engine, and searches related information of the selected product from networks using the search engine. In one embodiment, the related information of the selected product may be web pages and/or website addresses.
In block S308, the output module 110 displays the searched information of the selected product on the display device 2, so that the viewer 4 can browse the searched information of the selected product from the display device 2.
Although certain inventive embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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99126403 | Aug 2010 | TW | national |