Media Player User Attention Detection and Bookmarking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Users often miss important parts of television programs or media content due to interruptions, such as leaving the room or falling asleep, as existing systems lack the ability to automatically detect user attention and resume playback from the correct point without manual rewinding.
Innovation Solution
A media reproducing device and method that uses a video camera to detect user attention by analyzing motion vector tracks within a defined image monitor area, generating bookmarks to resume playback from the point where the user stopped attending, thereby automating the recording and playback process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a user manually uses a remote control to trigger recording or rewind content, then the user can control the media player, but the user may accidentally record the wrong programme or miss important content due to fumbling with the remote control
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs user actions automatically by detecting when the user is absent from the viewing area. The media player self-services by autonomously pausing, recording, or resuming playback based on sensor detection of user presence, eliminating the need for manual remote control operations and preventing user errors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical remote control operations with an automated sensing system. Sensors detect user presence/absence and trigger appropriate media playback actions automatically, substituting the mechanical remote control interface with an automated detection-and-response system.
2Loss of time
If a user manually rewinds content to resume playback after an interruption, then the user can continue watching from the correct point, but this process is time-consuming and annoying
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically pausing or recording the media at the exact moment user absence is detected. This preliminary action eliminates the need for subsequent manual rewinding operations, as the system has already prepared the correct playback state in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The media player self-services by automatically tracking user presence and managing playback state. When the user returns, the system autonomously resumes playback from the correct point without requiring manual intervention for rewinding or position adjustment.
3Reliability
If the system automatically detects user absence and pauses playback, then the user does not miss content, but the system complexity increases due to additional sensors and detection algorithms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces sensors as intermediary devices that detect user presence and communicate this information to the media player controller. These intermediaries bridge the gap between physical user presence and digital playback control, enabling automatic response without direct user interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses multi-functional sensors that can detect various conditions (presence, absence, movement) and the media player is designed to handle multiple playback scenarios (pause, record, resume, rewind) through a unified detection-and-response framework, reducing overall system complexity despite the added automation capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
A media reproducing device comprises a media data output element operable to output media data stored on a storage medium to a media data presentation unit. The media reproducing device further includes a receiver operable to receive a sequence of video images, and a user detector operable to detect, by analysis of the sequence of video images, whether a user is attending to a presentation of the media data by the media data presentation unit. The user detector is operable to detect whether the user is attending to the presentation of the media data and to generate motion vector tracks associated with movement of objects within the sequence of received video images. If it detects that the user is not attending to the presentation of the media data, the detector is operable to store a bookmark indicating that the user is not attending to the presentation of the media data.