Media Player Earmark System for Contextual Information Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Media players lack the ability to provide users with additional information about specific points in media content during playback, such as instrument details or location information, which can be of interest to listeners or viewers, and there is a potential revenue stream from displaying this information.
Innovation Solution
A media player that allows users to create a 'mark object' during playback to access metadata organized by sequence, which can include keywords or URLs for searching related information, either locally or remotely, and communicate this metadata to external networks for further data retrieval.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If media players provide additional information about specific points in media content, then user engagement and information accessibility are improved, but device complexity and data management requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments media content into discrete time intervals or sequences, with each segment associated with specific metadata and earmarks. This allows the system to manage additional information in an organized, incremental manner rather than handling all data at once, reducing the complexity burden while maintaining comprehensive information accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary data structure (earmark system) that mediates between the media content and the additional information. This intermediary layer organizes and indexes metadata, allowing users to query for specific information without requiring the media player to process or store all possible data, thus reducing complexity while improving accessibility.
2Ease of operation
If media players enable users to mark specific points for additional information, then user interaction and information retrieval are improved, but playback functionality and user interface complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the information retrieval function from the main playback function. Users can mark points during playback, and the system separates the marking action from the information display, allowing users to query for information about marked points without interfering with normal playback operations. This extraction reduces interface complexity by keeping playback and information retrieval as separate, manageable functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by allowing users to mark points of interest during playback before they need additional information. The system stores these marks and their associated metadata in advance, so when users query for information, the data is already prepared and readily available. This eliminates the need for complex real-time processing during information retrieval operations.
3Loss of information
If media players store and process metadata for additional information, then information availability is improved, but storage requirements and data processing load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by storing and processing metadata selectively at specific locations (time intervals or sequences) within the media content rather than uniformly throughout. Only the portions of metadata relevant to specific marked points are stored and processed in detail, while other portions are handled more lightly or not at all. This selective approach maintains information availability for user queries while significantly reducing overall storage and processing requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Metadata related to a media object may be used to obtain additional information about a mark created by a user in the media object. A media object being played by a user may be marked by creating a mark object, the mark object being used to determine the metadata to be used to obtain additional information related to the mark.