Media Guidance Application for Automatic Overlap Skipping

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional media systems force users to manually skip or fast-forward through overlapping content, leading to frustration and wasted time.

Innovation Solution

A media guidance application identifies overlapping content by comparing user profiles and media assets, automatically skipping or fast-forwarding through matching portions during playback.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of time

If conventional systems present complete media content to users, then content完整性 is maintained, but user time is wasted on overlapping content

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetime wasted on overlapping contentVSAvoidsystem complexity for detecting and removing overlap
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of timeVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection of overlapping content by comparing media assets before playback. User profiles and media metadata are analyzed in advance to identify overlapping portions, allowing the system to pre-calculate skip points and prepare edited versions of media content. This preliminary action eliminates the need for users to manually detect and skip overlapping content during playback.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates copied versions of media assets with overlapping content removed or marked for skipping. Instead of modifying the original media files, the system generates edited copies that have overlapping portions excised or timestamped for automatic skip functionality. These copied versions are then presented to users, providing a seamless viewing experience without requiring manual intervention.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Ease of operation

If manual fast-forwarding is required for overlapping content, then content completeness is preserved, but user experience deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of navigating media contentVSAvoidtime spent manually skipping content
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs self-service by automatically detecting overlapping content and executing skip actions without user intervention. The media player monitors playback progress, compares current content against the user's viewing history stored in profiles, and automatically fast-forwards through identified overlapping portions. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for users to manually fast-forward, significantly improving ease of operation and reducing time loss.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback loops where user viewing behavior is continuously monitored and fed back into the overlap detection algorithm. As users consume media content, their viewing patterns and skip behaviors provide feedback that refines the system's ability to accurately identify overlapping content. This feedback mechanism improves the precision of automatic skip points over time, enhancing user experience through increasingly accurate overlap detection.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Productivity

If overlapping content is removed automatically, then user experience improves, but processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveeffective media consumption rateVSAvoidprocessing energy for content comparison
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies local quality by focusing processing efforts only on potentially overlapping portions of media content rather than analyzing entire media assets uniformly. By using metadata, timestamps, and structured content information, the system identifies specific local regions (scenes, segments, or time ranges) that are likely to overlap and concentrates its comparison algorithms on these areas. This localized approach significantly reduces processing energy requirements while maintaining accurate overlap detection.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system segments media content into manageable units such as scenes, episodes, or time-based segments for comparison purposes. Instead of comparing entire media files in one operation, the system divides content into smaller segments that can be processed independently and in parallel. This segmentation reduces the computational burden on any single processing operation, lowering energy consumption while enabling comprehensive overlap detection across the entire media library.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4598034A1Method for enhancing a user viewing experience when consuming a sequence of media
Publication Date: 2025.08.06 ADEIA GUIDES INC
  • EP4598034A1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4598034A1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP4598034A1 patent drawingFigure 5

AI summary

Methods and systems are described for a media guidance application that enhances the viewing experiences of users consuming a sequence of media. In particular, the media guidance application may enhance the viewing experiences of users consuming a sequence of media by removing portions of redundant media that were previously consumed by the user.