Digital Media Browsing with Audio Snippets
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Solution Overview
Problem
As media storage capacity increases, navigating through extensive lists of digital media assets becomes cumbersome, necessitating improved techniques for browsing digital media assets.
Innovation Solution
Implementing image-based browsing with media cues provided by playback of short segments, or snippets, of digital media assets, where user interactions influence the cues and playback, allowing for more intuitive selection and exploration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If storage capacity of media player increases, then number of songs stored increases, but navigation complexity through song lists increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the navigation process into multiple hierarchical levels: collection level (albums, artists, genres), track level (individual songs within collections), and playback level (current song controls). This segmentation allows users to browse at different granularities, reducing the complexity of navigating through large numbers of songs by organizing them into manageable groups and categories.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces multiple browsing dimensions beyond simple linear listing: hierarchical organization (collections containing tracks), categorical grouping (artists, albums, genres), and contextual relationships (playlists, recently added). These additional dimensions provide alternative navigation paths, allowing users to approach large media collections from different angles rather than scrolling through a single extensive list.
2Ease of operation
If user navigates through extensive lists to select a song, then song selection is possible, but time required for selection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary organization of media assets into collections, playlists, and categories before the user needs to browse them. This pre-structuring allows users to jump directly to relevant groups rather than searching through all songs. The system also pre-loads metadata and creates index structures that enable rapid searching and filtering, reducing the time users spend navigating to find desired content.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms that adapt to user behavior during browsing: as users navigate through collections and tracks, the system learns their preferences and can suggest relevant content, adjust the order of displayed items, or provide contextual information about songs they are likely to want to play. This feedback loop reduces search time by guiding users toward their intended selections more efficiently.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems and apparatus for image-based browsing through a plurality of digital media assets assisted by media cues are disclosed. The media cues can be provided by playback of short audio segments, referred to as snippets, of the digital media assets being browsed. The digital media assets can be grouped into collections of digital media assets. In one embodiment, as a user browses through digital media assets using visual representations of the collections of digital media assets, media cues can be provided.