Audio-Based Audience Interaction System for Broadcast Content
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing television audience participation systems are often complex and unintuitive, requiring multiple steps or complex hardware, and can be confusing due to the presence of multiple apps for different broadcasters and content providers, leading to user frustration.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using standard audio queries for audience feedback, where audio is received by a user's device to identify content and provide interaction, utilizing watermarks, metadata, and OCR to monitor feedback, with the device automatically activating when a user is watching television, allowing for easy and natural engagement with broadcast content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional television audience participation systems use multiple steps and complex hardware, then they can provide feedback and voting functionality, but they become unintuitive and difficult to operate for users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by using a single smartphone application that can interact with multiple different broadcasters and content providers through a standardized interface. The system uses universal audio query recognition and content identification techniques that work across different television networks, eliminating the need for separate systems for each broadcaster while maintaining full functionality for feedback, voting, and engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical hardware systems with software-based audio processing. Instead of using dedicated buttons, remote controls, or specialized devices, the system uses the smartphone's existing microphone and audio processing capabilities to capture and analyze user feedback, applause, cheers, and vocal responses, converting physical audio signals into digital data for measurement and interaction.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple apps exist for different broadcasters and content providers, then each can provide specialized interaction methods, but user confusion and frustration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a single universal application that can interact with multiple broadcasters and content providers through standardized audio query recognition and content identification methods. The system maintains adaptability to different broadcasters while presenting a consistent, unified interface to users, eliminating the need to switch between multiple apps while preserving broadcaster-specific functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple broadcaster-specific interaction systems into a single unified platform. By combining audio query recognition, content identification, and interaction handling into one application, the system consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate apps, reducing user confusion while maintaining versatility across different broadcasters through a common architectural framework.
3Productivity
If users must remember instructions or phone numbers displayed on screen, then the system can collect feedback, but user burden and interaction difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by enabling the system to automatically identify and measure user feedback without requiring user intervention to provide identification information. The audio query recognition and content identification systems automatically detect what the user is watching and capture their vocal responses, eliminating the need for users to manually enter codes, remember phone numbers, or follow complex instructions while maintaining accurate feedback collection.
Data Source
AI summary
A broadcast audience interaction and feedback system may discover and activate a recording function of a portable device of a user to record audio and/or video of media content output by a media device in proximity to the user. The audio or video data may be used to identify the content by matching audio or video fingerprints or signatures of the data recorded by the portable device with separately generated signatures or fingerprints associated with the content. Additional entities may be automatically associated with the content via capturing of metadata or closed captioning data during the content, OCR of displayed text in the content, or detection of other such entities. In some implementations, the portable device may also capture feedback from the user, including cheering, applause, and laughter, as well as explicit questions or comments, voting choices, etc. The feedback may be identified, and queries generated or additional functions performed based on the identified feedback, the identified media content, and/or one or more entities associated with the identified media content.