Media Guidance Application Object Detection for Content Navigation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Viewers face inefficiencies in finding interesting portions of media content, such as television programs, as they currently rely on guessing whether selected content will be engaging, leading to inefficient navigation.

Innovation Solution

A media guidance application that identifies specific features in media assets, compares them to a database of commonly occurring objects, and determines appropriate actions based on context, allowing for features like skipping to playback points or transmitting data to mobile devices when the user is not accessing the media.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of time

If viewers manually navigate through media content to find interesting portions, then they can access content they enjoy, but the process is inefficient and time-consuming as users essentially guess whether selected content will be interesting

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetime to find interesting contentVSAvoidease of navigating content

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs automatic object detection and analysis without requiring user intervention. The media guidance application independently identifies interesting portions by detecting objects and evaluating contextual factors, then automatically navigates to or transmits data about these portions, eliminating the need for manual guessing and navigation by the user.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual mechanical navigation (user clicking through content) with an automated computer vision system that uses object detection algorithms, machine learning models, and contextual analysis to identify and navigate to interesting portions automatically.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Adaptability or versatility

If the system transmits media asset data to a mobile device when the user is not accessing the media asset, then the user can still access interesting content later, but this requires the user to be away from the primary viewing device

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveflexibility of content accessVSAvoidcontext information about the object

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary analysis of the media asset to detect objects and evaluate contextual factors before the user needs to access the content. By pre-identifying interesting portions and preparing transmission data in advance, the system ensures that when the user does access the content (whether on the original device or a mobile device), the most relevant portions are readily available without requiring the user to manually search through content.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS9807465B2Systems and methods for transmitting a portion of a media asset containing an object to a first user

Publication Date: 2017.10.31 ROVI PRODUCT CORP

AI summary

Systems and methods are provided herein for transmitting a portion of a media asset containing an object to a user. In many media assets, specific features appear at portions of a program that users find interesting. These features can be compared with a database of stored objects that commonly appear in media assets to determine the object corresponding to the feature. The system may store data related to the media asset containing the object and, if the user is not currently accessing the media asset, may transmit the data to the user's mobile device.