Environmental Metadata Encoding for Synchronized Media Playback

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing media content playback systems fail to effectively integrate environmental data to enhance the audio-visual experience by synchronizing with environmental modifiers such as lighting, sound, and tactile effects based on the content's audio-visual cues.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that analyze video and audio data to generate environmental metadata, which is used to control environmental devices like lighting, HVAC, and vibration systems to create synchronized effects during media playback.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If environmental metadata is generated and integrated with media content, then the immersion and emotional impact of media playback is enhanced, but the system complexity and device integration requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemedia playback experienceVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Environmental metadata is generated in advance during media content processing, identifying visual and auditory cues before playback. This preliminary analysis creates a mapping between media events and environmental device actions, so that during playback, pre-defined environmental responses can be triggered without real-time complex processing

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Environmental metadata serves as an intermediary layer between media content and environmental devices. The metadata contains structured information about visual and auditory cues, acting as a translation bridge that converts media events into device commands without requiring direct complex integration between media players and environmental devices

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If audio and video data are analyzed to determine visual and auditory cues, then environmental events can be synchronized with media content, but the processing time and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesynchronization accuracyVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Audio and video data are analyzed in advance to identify visual and auditory cues, with results stored as environmental metadata. This pre-processing creates a ready-to-use mapping between media events and environmental responses, eliminating the need for real-time analysis during playback and ensuring both accuracy and efficiency

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3675504B1Environmental data for media content
Publication Date: 2026.05.20 COMCAST CABLE COMM LLC
  • EP3675504B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3675504B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3675504B1 patent drawingFigure 3A

AI summary

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are described for generating environmental data for media content and/or for playback of media content having one or more environmental data streams. The environmental data streams may be automatically encoded during the encoding of the audio data and/or video data. Encoding the environmental data may comprise use of a digital signal processing pipeline to identify visual and/or auditory cues within the video data and/or audio data. The environmental data streams may cause a variety of devices located within an environment to operate in concert with the playback of the multimedia content.