Patent Application
20070245398
Technologies associated with the communication of information have evolved rapidly over the last several decades. Television, cellular telephony, the Internet and musical electronics (such as CD players and MP3 devices), to name a few, combine to inundate consumers with available information and entertainment options. These electronic devices typically operate within a particular environment, e.g., the home of a user, however, they often function independently of one another. For example, a user will typically individually configure consumer electronic devices to enable them to perform various functions in the particular manner desired by the user.
The technological ability to provide so much information and content to end users provides both opportunities and challenges to those wishing to control media content accessibility. For example, parents may wish to restrict their children from being able to access media having certain content or from being able to access certain services altogether. Similarly, educators may wish to restrict access by students to media. As technology advances it can be expected that there will be more consumer electronic devices for delivering media to people, which further complicates this issue. For each device that is capable of displaying media, the user must manually set the device with the desired parental controls if the device supports such an ability. For example, a user may set a DVD player to not play R rated media and also set a CD player to not play media with explicit lyrics. Furthermore, if the content control is title specific, then the user must individually tell each device capable of playing the title, that it should not be played. For example, a parent may not want a particular movie to be shown and must program each movie playback device to indicate this restriction.
Another common method for allowing a parent to control content exposure in a television is through the use of a so called “V-chip”. Some televisions come with “V-chip” circuitry in the unit, which allows a parent to program what content is allowable to be viewed on that television. Content could be characterized either by the rating of the show, for example, G, PG-13 or R, or the content could be characterized by a description, such as, sexual content or violence. The “V-chip” then acts as a filter for incoming television content by comparing the content characterization of the incoming program to the rules programmed into the “V-chip”, and either passing or blocking the signal based on the results of the comparison.
Yet another specific area of concern for media control, is the content available from surfing the Internet. Currently a variety of programs can be purchased that allow a parent to set up controls for blocking content or access to a variety of web sites.
Given the increasing number of media delivery devices and the increasing amount of available content, control of access to content is becoming a difficult chore. Therefore, there is a need for a universal content control method that allows a single device or system to control the content output from all consumer electronic devices in the user's environment.
Systems and methods according to exemplary embodiments address this need and others by providing techniques for universal content control to control the content output from all (or a subset of) consumer electronic devices in the user's environment.
According to one exemplary embodiment, a universal content control device for controlling media content access comprising an input for receiving input associated with media content access rules, a processor for associating media content access rules with different types of consumer electronic devices based on the capabilities of consumer electronic devices and an output for transmitting associated media content and access instructions to different types of consumer electronic devices for controlling content access at the consumer electronic devices.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a method for distributing media content access rules comprising the steps of receiving input associated with media content access rules, associating media content access rules with different types of consumer electronic devices based on the capabilities of consumer electronic devices and transmitting associated media content and access instructions to different types of consumer electronic devices for controlling content access at the consumer electronic devices.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a system for distributing media content access rules includes a universal content control device for receiving input associated with the media content access rules, a plurality of consumer electronic devices, wherein the consumer electronic devices interact with media based on media content access instructions received from the universal content control device, and communication links connecting the universal content control device to the plurality of consumer electronic devices, wherein the universal content control device further includes an input for receiving input associated with the media content access rules, a processor for associating said media content access rules with different types of consumer electronic devices based on the capabilities of the consumer electronic devices, and an output for transmitting the associated media content and access instructions to the plurality of consumer electronic devices for controlling content access at the consumer electronic devices.
The accompanying drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention, wherein:
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.
In order to provide some context for this description, an exemplary environment in which exemplary embodiments can be employed will now be described with respect to
To simplify the discussion, an exemplary home environment 200 with only two consumer electronic devices that are universally programmed with parental controls will now be described with respect to
Initially, a parent can enter content and access rules from parental controls input device 204, and communicate these rules via communication link 206 to the universal control device 202. Parental controls input device 204 can take many different forms, an example of which is given below with respect to
According to one exemplary embodiment a single common content and access rule list (or set of characteristics) is input into the universal control device 202. This content and access rule list is then processed using logic within the universal control device 202 to create specific instructions for each relevant consumer electronic device in the household environment 202. These specific instructions may be generated by selection and formatting within the universal control device 202 and are then passed on to the relevant consumer electronic device(s). For example, suppose that parental input is received by the universal control device 202 that states no R rated content is to be output from those devices associated with this parental control input or device list (described below). The universal control device 202 would then send more specific instructions to TV 208, using a format and a communication link which are compatible with TV 208, that would not allow any media that has a content rating of R or higher to be displayed or heard. The universal control device 202 would also send more specific instructions to computer 216 that would not allow any media that has a content rating of R or higher to be displayed or heard nor allow access to internet sites with content considered R equivalent or higher.
An exemplary universal content control device, such as the universal control device 202 is shown in
As mentioned earlier, the universal control device 202 takes the inputs from parental control input device 204 and applies selection and formatting processes to generate a set of content and access control commands for that particular user's set of consumer electronic devices. For example, according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the parental control input device 204 can be a web portal accessible via the parent's home computer. The web portal may provide a user interface screen such as that shown in
According to another exemplary embodiment, the universal control device 202 can have settings that allow a device to be shared by multiple users wherein the controls for the shared device are set in accordance to the parent's rules. For example, if there are two non-parental users in the household, both users will have rules associated with them in addition to rules for the devices. This would allow, for example, a teenage child and 5 year old to share the same device with the device set to the content control rules of the person actually using the device. To manage this feature, each user can be given a login/password so that the appropriate rules set is applied to the person actually using a device.
Given this input information, the universal control device 202 can use selection techniques programmed into processor 302 and/or memory 304 to implement the selected rules list across those relevant devices in list #1. For example, if the parent selected no instant messaging as a rule for this device list, then the universal control device 202 would generate suitable specific instructions only to those devices in the list which have instant messaging capability, e.g., computer A and/or cellphone A, but not to those devices on the list which do not have instant messaging capability, e.g., TV 1. This feature of exemplary embodiments saves the user time by allowing universal controls to be implemented across devices having overlapping, but not identical, capabilities and corresponding parental controls. A list of exemplary parental controls/rules which can be provided as selectable options in the user interface of
According to exemplary embodiments as illustrated in
According to an exemplary embodiment the steps performed by an exemplary universal content control device are shown in the flowchart of
According to another exemplary embodiment the user accesses a device in, for example, the household environment through either a unique identification number or an electronic card. The system would then only allow access and content according to rules that correspond to that user. These rules would be predetermined in the content control unit. Alternatively, the rules could be embedded on the electronic card.
The above-described exemplary embodiments are intended to be illustrative in all respects, rather than restrictive, of the present invention. Thus the present invention is capable of many variations in detailed implementation that can be derived from the description contained herein by a person skilled in the art. All such variations and modifications are considered to be within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the following claims. No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the article “a” is intended to include one or more items.
