Patent application number | Description | Published |
20130202150 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AN AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION ABSTRACTION LAYER - A method and system for an automatic content recognition (ACR) abstraction layer are described in which real-time event manager in an ACR system may be utilized to receive interactive event identifiers and to assign those identifiers to sets of video fingerprints generated by multiple real-time fingerprint servers (RTFSs). The video fingerprints may be generated from a network television feed by utilizing video fingerprint technologies that are different for each RTFS. The interactive event identifiers may be determined from different sources. When determined from content ingested by the ACR system, for example, the interactive event identifiers may be based on a video fingerprinting process separate from those utilized by the RTFSs. The RTFSs may communicate the sets of video fingerprints and interactive event identifiers to corresponding fingerprint match systems, which in turn may communicate with devices that utilize the same video fingerprint technology as the corresponding RTFS. | 08-08-2013 |
20130204889 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION NETWORK OPERATIONS - A network fingerprint manager within an automatic content recognition (ACR) system may be operable to receive one or more versions of media content associated with a network. One or more proxy content may be generated by the network fingerprint manager for each version of the received media content. The network fingerprint manager may generate a set of fingerprints from a particular one of the generated one or more proxy content for each version of the received media content. The particular one being fingerprinted may comprise proxy content with highest quality among the generated proxy content. The set of fingerprints and corresponding content ID and media time for each version of the received media content may be stored. The network fingerprint manager may generate real-time fingerprints from content in a received network feed. The network fingerprint manager may compare the generated real-time fingerprints to the stored sets of fingerprints for matching. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205212 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL - A method and system for a universal remote control used with display devices that support automatic content recognition (ACR) are described. The remote control may be paired to the display device and may receive a trigger signal from the display device that corresponds to an interactive event overlay displayed on the display device as a result of the ACR operations. The pairing may occur through the use of near field communication (NFC) signals and/or WiFi signals. A graphical user interface (GUI) may be generated for display on a screen of the remote control device that corresponds to the interactive event overlay. The screen may be a touch-screen that enables the user to interact with the remote control through the GUI. The remote control may communicate one or more signals to the display device in response to user input received by the remote control device from information provided through the GUI. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205315 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTEXTUAL ADVERTISEMENT REPLACEMENT UTILIZING AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - An automatic content recognition (ACR)-enabled connected TV device may be operable to identify, utilizing ACR, viewer interaction and/or viewer information. The ACR-enabled connected TV device may present, utilizing the ACR, a variant of an advertisement in a next ad pod during presentation of content, based on the identified viewer interaction and/or the identified viewer information. The viewer information may comprise customized preferences profile, default preferences setting, viewing habits, time of day and/or location. The viewer information may also comprise objects and/or events captured by an associated camera. When an identified stored episode of a show is presented via DVR playback, the ACR-enabled connected TV device may present, in a next ad pod, a new version of an advertisement, where the new version of the advertisement may be associated with a new episode of the show and presentation of the new version may result in a C3 rating credit. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205316 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A REWARD PROGRAM BASED ON AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - An automatic content recognition (ACR)-enabled connected TV device coupled to an ACR system may be operable to detect, utilizing the ACR system, interaction with and/or watching of certain content by a viewer. A reward may be presented by the ACR-enabled connected TV device, utilizing the ACR system, based on the detected interaction and/or watching. The certain content may comprise a program, a commercial, a movie or a game associated with a network that is being presented. The reward may be redeemed to unlock additional features and/or content. The interaction may comprise sharing by the viewer, information on the certain content with one or more other viewers. The ACR-enabled connected TV device may then present the reward based on the sharing. The ACR-enabled connected TV device may be operable to present, utilizing the ACR system, information on alternative content with a higher reward value for the viewer to interact and/or watch. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205317 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UTILIZING AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION FOR CONTENT TRACKING - An automatic content recognition (ACR) enabled (ACR-enabled) connected TV device may be operable to collect viewing data, utilizing ACR. The viewing data may comprise viewer interaction information and/or content presentation information associated with the ACR-enabled connected TV device and/or a paired device. The ACR-enabled connected TV device may store the collected viewing data in the ACR-enabled connected TV device. The stored viewing data may be communicated to one or more network providers, by the ACR-enabled connected TV device, for determining customized services for the ACR-enabled connected TV device. The viewing data may be used to determine how to manage advertisements associated with the ACR-enabled connected TV device and/or at a network level associated with the one or more network providers. The viewing data may be used to determine user profiles. The viewing data may also be used to determine programming and/or advertisements targeted to the ACR-enabled connected TV device. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205318 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION BASED ON CUSTOMIZED USER PREFERENCES - An automatic content recognition (ACR)-enabled connected TV device may be operable to identify, utilizing an ACR system, content in a presented program. An event category related to the identified content may be identified by the ACR-enabled connected device utilizing the ACR system. The ACR-enabled connected device may determine, utilizing the ACR system, whether to present an overlay associated with the event category, based on a user profile associated with the ACR-enabled connected device. The overlay for viewer interaction may be presented, based on the determination, by the ACR-enabled connected device utilizing the ACR system. The user profile may comprise information on categories of events that may be preferred by the viewer. The user profile may be determined based on input from the viewer. The user profile may also be determined based on viewing history and/or behavior associated with the ACR-enabled connected device. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205319 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LINKING CONTENT ON A CONNECTED TELEVISION SCREEN WITH A BROWSER - An automatic content recognition (ACR)-enabled connected TV device may be associated with a paired device and the paired device may comprise a browser. The ACR-enabled connected TV device may be operable to enable, utilizing an ACR system, the browser to display, within a section of a browser window, interactive content related to certain content being presented by the ACR-enabled connected TV device. The ACR-enabled connected TV device may be operable to enable, utilizing the ACR system, a viewer to interact with the interactive content. The section of the browser window may be changed dynamically. The certain content may comprise an advertisement of a particular product and the interactive content may comprise a link to a website and/or other information related to the particular product. The certain content may comprise a program associated with a network and the interactive content may comprise information on polling questions related to the program. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205321 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION PROTOCOLS - Systems, methods and/or techniques for automatic content recognition protocols are described. A method may be executed in a media device having an automatic content recognition application programming interface. The method may include generating one or more video fingerprints that correspond to video content that displays on the media device. The method may include communicating the one or more video fingerprints to an automatic content recognition backend system. The automatic content recognition backend system compares the one or more video fingerprints with one or more stored video fingerprints and determines whether a match occurs. If the match occurs, one or more event identifiers associated with the one or more video fingerprints may be received from the automatic content recognition backend system. The one or more event identifiers may be communicated to an application server, and one or more interactive events may be received from the application server. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205322 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SYNCHRONIZATION OF DIAL TESTING AND AUDIENCE RESPONSE UTILIZING AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - Systems, methods and/or techniques for synchronization of dial testing and audience response utilizing automatic content recognition (ACR) are described. Synchronized dial testing and audience response techniques may utilize a system that is operable to perform ACR and that may implement an abstraction layer. An ACR system may be operable to detect a desired portion (e.g., a frame or scene) of a program that is streaming or communicated over a live network or broadcast feed, to a smart TV for example. Synchronized dial testing and audience response techniques may be employed to initiate an interactive event or application that appears on a smart TV in response to a detected point or portion of a program, such that the content presented by the application is synchronized to the content of the live network or broadcast feed. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205323 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A SYNCHRONOUS EVENT MANAGER FOR AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - A method and system for a synchronous event manager for automatic content recognition (ACR) are described. A display device, such as a connected television or mobile device, may be operable to perform ACR and may utilize a synchronous event manager comprising a software layer that may continuously be executed as a background process. The software layer may comprise a single framework or framework from which to execute one or more user-interaction applications. The software layer may monitor internal and external events and may detect an event trigger produced in response to a match resulting from the ACR. After receiving a user-interaction application corresponding to the detected event trigger, the software layer may launch or invoke the user-interaction application from the single framework. In some instances, multiple user-interaction applications may be launched concurrently from the single framework. These user-interaction applications may interface with each other through the single framework. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205324 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COUPONS BASED ON AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - An automatic content recognition (ACR)-enabled connected TV device may be operable to present an overlay offering a coupon utilizing an ACR system, where the overlay may also be presented on a paired device. The ACR-enabled connected TV device may present information associated with a value of the coupon based on interaction with the presented overlay by the viewer. The value of the coupon may be determined based on a profile associated with the ACR-enabled connected TV device. The profile may be determined and maintained utilizing the ACR system. The viewer may obtain the coupon associated with the value information from a microsite assigned to the viewer. The viewer may share information on a link of the microsite with one or more other viewers. The value of the coupon may change when one or more of the other viewers click on the link of the microsite to obtain the coupon. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205325 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OUTCOME PREDICTION UTILIZING AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - An automatic content recognition (ACR)-enabled connected TV device may be operable to identify, utilizing an ACR system, an event that is to take place in a presented program. An overlay, which comprises information on possible outcomes of the identified event, may be presented by the ACR-enabled connected device utilizing the ACR system, within a specific time window synchronized with the identified event. The ACR-enabled connected device may identify, utilizing the ACR system, a predicted outcome selected by a viewer. The predicted outcome may be selected, within the specific time window, via interaction with the overlay on the ACR-enabled connected device. An actual outcome that actually takes place may be identified by the ACR-enabled connected device utilizing the ACR system. The ACR-enabled connected device may present, utilizing the ACR system, a message indicating whether the viewer is correct based on the identified actual outcome. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205326 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF USER-INITIATED EVENTS UTILIZING AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - Systems, methods and/or techniques for detection of user-initiated events in relation to a media device are described, for example utilizing a content recognition system. A method may be executed in a media device that is operable to play video content. The method may include receiving user interaction with the media device and the user interaction causes initiation of a feature that affects video content that plays on the media device. The method may include receiving one or more interactive events from a content recognition system in response to the user interaction. The method may comprise executing the one or more interactive events to affect video content that is playing on the media device, and display one or more overlay windows corresponding to the affected video content. One or more video fingerprints that correspond to the affected video content may be communicated to the content recognition system. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205330 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TV EVERYWHERE AUTHENTICATION BASED ON AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - An automatic content recognition (ACR)-enabled connected TV device may be operable to identify, utilizing an ACR system, a network which is being tuned to. An authentication may be performed by the ACR-enabled connected TV device for receiving content through a TV everywhere service associated with the identified network based on information identified by the ACR system. The ACR-enabled connected TV device may be operable to pair with a paired device utilizing a companion application downloaded in the paired device. The paired device may communicate with the ACR-enabled connected TV device using near field communication (NFC). In instances when the ACR-enabled connected TV device has been authenticated for receiving the content through the TV everywhere (TVE) service, the paired device may also be authenticated. The performing of the authentication may comprise identifying a set-top box (STB) coupled to the ACR-enabled connected TV device as well as determining a service provider. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205335 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF RULES FOR OVERLAYS BASED ON AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - An automatic content recognition (ACR)-enabled connected TV device may be operable to present, utilizing an ACR system, an overlay during presentation of content, based on one or more rules. The one or more rules may be implemented utilizing information provided by the ACR system. The presented overlay may be associated with a sponsor, and the one or more rules may comprise a timing rule, an advertisement separation rule, an advertisement conflict rule and/or an auto-scaling rule. An ad server coupled to the ACR system may determine whether the overlay associated with the sponsor may be appropriate for presentation. The presented overlay may comprise interactive content for viewer interaction, and the one or more rules may comprise a viewer interaction rule which ensures that, when the interactive overlay is presented, the presented content may be scaled so that the scaled presented content is not covered by the overlay. | 08-08-2013 |
20130205338 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SYNCHRONIZATION OF MESSAGES TO CONTENT UTILIZING AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - An automatic content recognition (ACR) enabled (ACR-enabled) connected TV device may be operable to present, utilizing ACR, an overlay starting at a time that is synchronized to an identified event in presented content. The overlay may comprise one or more messages associated with an online social network. The presented content may comprise a program, a movie, a game or a commercial. The one or more messages may be pre-generated, before presentation of the content, for presentation synchronized to the identified event during the presentation of the content. The one or more messages may be generate during broadcast or streaming of a program or a movie, and the presented content, which comprises the program or the movie, may be presented during a time-delayed playback. The ACR-enabled connected TV device may track, utilizing the ACR, how each of the presented one or more messages is actually being viewed and/or interacted with. | 08-08-2013 |
20130212609 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOGO IDENTIFICATION BASED ON AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION - A method and system for logo identification based on automatic content recognition (ACR) are described in which a connected television (TV) or other end-user device may be provided with instructions to fingerprint certain regions in a video frame to identify the source of the content being displayed. Such instructions may be provided when, for example, fingerprint matching is able to identify content that is provided by multiple sources but is unable to identify the particular source of the content. In those instances, one or more additional locations may be determined for taking fingerprints in the video frame. These locations correspond to region of the video frame in which a graphical item that represents the network television station is typically displayed. A profile with these locations is generated and sent to the connected TV to take additional fingerprints to enable the identification of the network television station providing content. | 08-15-2013 |
20140282657 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION (ACR) INTEGRATION FOR SMARTTVS AND MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICES - A second screen communication device that is paired with an automatic content recognition (ACR) enabled display communication device launches an interactive application in response to an invitation cue generated and presented by the ACR-enabled display communication device while the ACR-enabled display communication device is displaying linear broadcast content. The linear broadcast content is a non-IP based broadcast content. The interactive application launched on the second screen communication device enables interaction with interactive content displayed by a user interface on the second screen communication device based on the invitation cue. The second screen communication device may generate one or more control elements that are utilized to control the interaction with the interactive content. The displaying of IP-based digital stream content corresponding to the linear broadcast content on the automatic content recognition enabled display may be resumed on the ACR enabled communication device utilizing the generated one or more control elements. | 09-18-2014 |
20140282658 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION (ACR) BASED BROADCAST SYNCHRONIZATION - An automatic content recognition (ACR) enabled display communication device that is operable to receive and consume content from a linear feed and a corresponding IP-based feed. The linear feed and the IP-based feed includes one or more content identifiers that identify similar content within the linear feed and the IP-based feed and also includes one or more corresponding automatic content recognition triggers. The ACR-enabled display communication device determines a first content identifier that is associated with a first content in the linear feed that is being consumed and requests IP segments in the IP-based feed that corresponds to the determined first content identifier and switches from consuming content in the linear feed to consuming content in the requested IP segments. The ACR-enabled display communication device stores the determined first content identifier and receives the requested IP segments from a remote server. | 09-18-2014 |
20140282670 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING AND RESOLVING CONFLICTS IN AN AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION BASED SYSTEM - A device that handles operations for automatic content recognition detects utilizing the automatic content recognition (ACR) operations, a conflict when a first overlay and a second overlay are concurrently presented on a channel on the device. The device may modify the presentation of the first overlay and/or the second overlay for the channel based on the detection. The device utilizes the ACR operations to determine an identity of the channel based on a unique identifier such as a channel logo. The device utilizes the ACR operations to determine a location where the first overlay and/or the second overlay is presented based on the channel identity and may relocate the first overlay and/or the second overlay from the determined location to a new location. If the conflict is detected, the device may be resize, defer or cancel presentation of one of the first overlay and/or the second overlay for the channel. | 09-18-2014 |
20140282697 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING SYNCHRONIZED ADVERTISEMENTS AND SERVICES - A second screen communication device that is paired with an automatic content recognition (ACR) enabled display communication device is operable to detect presentation of a linear advertisement campaign on the ACR-enabled display communication device and control presentation of content, which is associated with the linear advertisement campaign, on the second screen communication device. The content that is associated with the linear advertisement campaign comprises a plurality of messages. The second screen communication device is operable to select one or more of the plurality of messages for presentation on the second screen communication whenever the linear advertisement campaign is detected during the presentation on the ACR-enabled display communication device. The screen communication device may be operable to sequence through presentation of the plurality of messages on the ACR-enabled display communication device based on the selection. | 09-18-2014 |
20140282723 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING AND HANDLING PRODUCT AND SERVICE DISCOUNTS, AND LOCATION BASED SERVICES (LBS) IN AN AUTOMATIC CONTENT RECOGNITION BASED SYSTEM - An automatic content recognition (ACR) enabled display communication device may present a linear advertisement campaign. A second screen communication device (SSCD) that is paired with an ACR-enabled display communication device, may detect when content associated with a linear advertisement campaign is available for display on the SSCD. A location of the SSCD may be determined when the SSCD detects that the content associated with the linear advertisement campaign is available for display. The SSCD may customize content for presentation in order to offer one or more products and/or services to a viewer of the SSCD based on the determined location. The SSCD determines assets that are required and/or utilized for the customization of the content so that it may be presented on the SSCD. The SSCD may acquire the determined assets from one or more servers and control presentation of the content based on information corresponding to the acquired assets. | 09-18-2014 |