Secondary Device Mediator for TV Supplemental Content
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users watching television lack an efficient way to access additional information or engage in secondary activities, such as shopping, without interrupting their viewing experience, as existing systems require navigating menus or using computationally intensive queries.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that uses a secondary user device to identify concurrently viewed content, providing a supplemental experience by curating related items for sale, accessing real-time media, and facilitating transactions, while reducing computational resources through optimized data retrieval and processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If users navigate menus or use queries on the television to access additional information, then they can obtain supplemental content, but their viewing experience is interrupted and computational resources are intensively consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a secondary user device (smartphone, tablet, or computer) as an intermediary between the television and the user. This device displays supplemental information, shopping options, and transaction interfaces, allowing users to access additional content without interrupting their TV viewing. The secondary device acts as a mediator that handles all interactions while the primary viewing experience continues uninterrupted on the television.
2Loss of information
If users navigate menus or use queries on the television to access additional information, then they can obtain supplemental content, but computational resources are intensively consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The secondary user device serves as an intermediary that handles all computational tasks for displaying supplemental information, processing shopping queries, and managing transactions. This transfers the computational burden from the television system to the user's personal device, which already has sufficient processing capabilities, thereby reducing the energy consumption and computational requirements of the television system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the functions of displaying supplemental information, processing user queries, and handling transactions from the television system and relocates them to a secondary user device. This separation allows the television to focus solely on its primary function of content delivery, reducing its computational load and energy consumption while still providing comprehensive supplemental experiences.
3Ease of operation
If a secondary user device is used to provide supplemental experience, then viewing experience is enhanced without interruption, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the universal nature of secondary user devices (smartphones, tablets, computers) that users already possess and are familiar with. These devices can perform multiple functions including displaying supplemental information, presenting shopping options, processing transactions, and providing real-time media access. By utilizing existing multi-functional devices rather than requiring new specialized equipment, the system enhances ease of operation while minimizing the increase in device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a system to provide a supplemental experience based on concurrently viewed content is provided. The system comprises an identification module to identify, at a user device, concurrently viewed content assigned a content identifier via communication with one or more components of a home theatre. The system further comprises a curation module to identify one or more listings describing items for sale based on keywords mapped to the content identifier and provide a user interface including the listings to the user device.