Patent Application
20130339999
This disclosure relates to consumer electronic devices and more particularly to such devices that display communally broadcast information having supplemental data and even more specifically where the supplemental data is location specific.
It is well-known that communal broadcast information, such as that provided by television, can have a local component thereto. This is typically accomplished by distributing the communal information from a central location to a plurality of individual locations. The centrally created data is then broadcast (or placed on a cable channel) by each such individual location. The individual locations can add locally relevant data (usually in substitution for blocks of data already existing as part of the centrally distributed information) to the broadcast information. In this manner, advertisements can be geared to local businesses, as opposed to being limited to national sponsors.
However, even with this system, all of the subscribers receiving the broadcast from a particular location will obtain the same data, with no subscriber receiving more or less data than any other subscriber.
A device paired with a conventional television is used to display to a particular viewer information desired by that particular viewer even though the information displayed on the television is communally broadcast. In one embodiment, the device contains an application that allows communally broadcast information to be displayed on the paired television. If a user desires additional information pertaining to something observed on the television (such as an advertisement) the user, via the device, signals such a desire and the information is downloaded to that device. The downloaded information, for example, could be based on demographics of the user, previously requested information, the GPS location of the device, and the like.
In one embodiment, the pairing is such that the communally broadcast information is first received by the device and then communicated to the television. In other embodiments, the communal broadcast can be sent directly to the television and the device can be keyed to what is being viewed by external keys, such as, for example, applications that keep track of what the user is currently viewing on television.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In some embodiments, an application (APP) would be resident on remote device 101 and the user, by accessing the APP (as shown on
Coordination between remote device 101 and television 102 can occur in any manner, such as by receiving the television information on a hand-held device (such as device 101) and exchanging data with television 102. Coordination of program media appearing on television 102 and the APP running on the hand-held remote device 101 can instead be communicated to hand-held device 101 either manually, by the viewer or remotely from a central distribution source (not shown). Alternatively, the program information can be communicated directly from the television to the hand-held device.
In the embodiment of
When the CONNECT button is pressed, remote device 101 connects with intermediate device 103 (in this example, an Apple TV® device as shown in display box 201 (
Remote device 101A (
In one embodiment, the user is in control of whether or not the information on the main television continues playing or is placed on hold via remote device 101. The same is true for the sound. Thus, the user might allow the video to continue on the main screen while muting the main television sound so as to listen to sound from the remote device. In some situations, sound from both devices might be used concurrently and in some situation, this concurrent sound can be an enhancement if desired.
In some embodiments, the system can use the GPS (or other location determination methods) commonly found in mobile devices to determine the location of the device. Thus, it is possible customize content delivered to the mobile device based on location information. For example, as shown in banner 301-2 of remote device 101B, (shown in
In some embodiments, content sent to remote device 101 may include special offers directed to a consumer. For example, coupon 301-3, shown on remote device 101C (
In some embodiments, advertisements broadcast during program viewing may be supplemented to the mobile device with additional content provided by an alternate advertiser. For example, a local advertiser can add content to a national advertisement in a manner that more specifically directs a viewer toward an advertised product.
For instance, an automobile manufacturer might insert an advertisement for a vehicle at a particular time into a national broadcast. The user, from the mobile device (with or without a prompt from the television screen), could be directed to his/her mobile device or be directed to touch a button on his/her mobile device, which contains additional information. The mobile device, knowing its own location, and knowing what program is being aired on the television at the time of the screen touch, can go to a server, such as server 110, to retrieve information relating to what is or has been displayed. The retrieved information can be, for example, locally created for a specific vendor. Also, there could be multiple available displays, all of which can be shown to the user, or the user can be allowed to pick which one or ones he/she wishes to view. Thus, vendors having relevant data can have information directed to a user whenever the user asks for additional data while viewing the automobile manufacturer commercial.
As noted above, any method of knowing what is on the television screen at any given time can be used to trigger whether information will be provided to the requesting user having a mobile device. One method of knowing what is being displayed is to have a time-line log available at the server, the time-line log keyed to commercial products and perhaps to products shown in the program. Other methods may include utilizing recognition software which recognizes that sound or data streaming to the television. Embodiments are not limited by the means wherein data is recognized, provided, or how devices may be paired in order to provide the described content.
Note that once the user requests additional information via a mobile device, that information can emanate from a plurality of sources and be available on the user's mobile device. The user can take advantage of all of the features native to his/her own device as well as using features provided by APPS loaded on the mobile device. Note also, once the additional material is present on the mobile device it is possible to communicate that additional material to the television itself in addition to, or in place of, what is already being viewed on the television. Using such a feature, it could be possible to override the normal television program (the broadcast programming) with enhanced information obtained locally by the user. The information override (modification) could be audio and/or video. Thus, a viewer can, under control of an APP on the user's device, translate the language being heard from the television from the native language of the program to a language preferred by a viewer. In one embodiment, the APP would do live translation and delay the visual long enough to accomplish the translation.
The additional information, whether displayed only on the mobile device or on both, can come from any number of locations, including from third parties live or pre-stored. Thus, in some situations, the user, by indicating he/she desires more information could, in fact, open a text (or even a voice) dialog with a third party (or perhaps even another viewer or a social network “friend” for the purpose of obtaining additional information.
Any information coming to the mobile device could be streamed to the television if desired or to another mobile device using the native abilities of the mobile device. For example, it may be possible to send multiple images to the television, one from each APP running on the mobile device and a third APP could coordinate how the images are to appear on the television. Note that the coordination of how the material plays on the television could be by a set-top box (not shown) or any other device which receives communications from the user's personal device and delivers content to the television. The embodiment shown box 103 (
WiFi communication between the mobile device and the television (perhaps via an intermediary device) is what is expected, but any form of communication link will work. Also note that more than one mobile device could become linked to one television (or to many televisions). In such a situation, any of the devices could send programming to the television, and the users at each device, driven by prompts from the television, could download different additional material. For example, consider an advertisement showing a car being driven through a park. An adult viewer might want more information from a local car dealer, while a child might wish information on the video game being played by a child in the video.
Expanding this example, assume a baseball game is being displayed on the television under control from a first mobile device belonging to a one user. Another user's mobile device is also linked into the connection such that the first user can obtain statistics about the team standings while the second user might want to see video clips of the last at-bat for the current batter.
Method 40 assumes that television is displaying information content and that a user having a remote device is present. In the context of this application, the remote device is a device that is primarily designed and used for activities other than controlling televisions (e.g. an iPad®, Android® tablet, smart phone, etc.).
Method 40 further assumes that the television has displayed, or otherwise communicated to the user, that additional information is available by using the remote device. Process 401 determines if the user has activated his/her remote device in response signaling a desire for additional information. If so, then process 402 determines what content is currently being displayed on the television. As discussed, determination of content can be accomplished in a number of different ways, for example, by timing and knowing what content was just on the television. Knowledge of content can be mechanical, in that knowledge of what television channel (or other source of the content) can yield, perhaps from a database file, what the content is based on the time. Content can be determined by image analysis (under control of an APP in the remote device or at another remote location) or perhaps by markers or tags placed in the media and delivered along with the “additional information desired” signal to a processing system. Process 403, working in conjunction with process 402, matches the current displayed content with the user's signal.
Process 404 determines if there is additional content appropriate for the time and place of the remote device. If there is more than one such content then a determination must be made under control of process 404 as to which content is appropriate. This determination can be interactive or it can be based on previous profiles or other demographics of the user at the remote device. If the content is not location (or any other demographic specific), as determined by process 405, then process 406 delivers the selected additional media to the remote device.
When the content is location specific (or specific to a particular profile or demographic) then process 407 with the help of features of the remote device, such as GPS 408, obtains the specification to assist in determining which additional content to deliver. Thus, for location-specific content the nearest dealer could be selected. Process 409 delivers the appropriate media to the user's remote device. Process 412 determines if it is necessary to deliver all or part of the additional content to the television (for example, for translation purposes). If so, process 413 controls the delivery and coordination of that content. Process 412 would also serve to delay television content to allow for processing time of additional content, if required.
Process 410 ends the method if the additional media has been delivered and the user is not requesting any further information. If the user is requesting additional information, then the method continues at process 404.
Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
