Television Recommendation Mode for Stateless Content Exploration

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing television applications fail to provide media content recommendations based on a user's current mood or situation rather than past viewing habits or preferences, leading to unwanted influence on future recommendations.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a stateless recommendation process that starts with a blank slate, fine-tunes suggestions based on iterative user selections, and does not store user inputs to influence future recommendations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a television application uses traditional recommendation processes based on user preferences and viewing history, then future recommendations are personalized and tailored to user interests, but current media content selections continuously influence and alter future recommendations, preventing users from exploring content outside their usual preferences

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverecommendation flexibilityVSAvoidrecommendation consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the recommendation process into two distinct modes: stateful recommendations that use user preferences for personalized suggestions, and stateless recommendations that start with a blank slate for exploration. This segmentation allows users to switch between personalized and exploratory recommendation modes as needed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a stateless recommendation process as an intermediary mechanism that temporarily decouples user selections from recommendation generation. This intermediary mode allows users to explore content without the selections being stored or influencing future recommendations, while still maintaining the ability to provide relevant suggestions during the exploration session.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If a stateless recommendation process does not store user inputs, then users can explore different media content without influencing future recommendations, but the system loses the ability to learn and adapt to user preferences over time

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent exploration capabilityVSAvoiduser preference data

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent makes the recommendation system dynamic by allowing users to switch between stateful and stateless modes. In stateless mode, the system temporarily suspends data retention to enable exploration, while in stateful mode, it resumes normal preference tracking. This dynamic switching resolves the contradiction between exploration and learning.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the operational parameters of the recommendation system based on user intent. When in stateless mode, the system parameter changes to not store or process user selections for future recommendations. When switching to stateful mode, the parameters return to normal operation, resuming preference tracking and personalized recommendations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Ease of operation

If a television application provides personalized recommendations based on known user preferences, then recommendations are relevant and tailored to user interests, but users cannot easily explore media content from different genres or outside their established preferences

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepersonalization easeVSAvoidgenre diversity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the recommendation experience into personalized (stateful) and exploratory (stateless) components. Users can easily access personalized recommendations through the standard interface, while a simple mechanism allows switching to stateless mode for exploration, making both experiences equally accessible.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of requiring users to manually search for content outside their preferences, the patent inverts the approach by providing exploratory recommendations that automatically present diverse content. The stateless mode generates recommendations without relying on user preference data, effectively presenting content the opposite way from traditional personalized systems.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Data Source

PatentUS20260052294A1Stateless television recommendations

Publication Date: 2026.02.19 GOOGLE LLC

AI summary

A method may include displaying, by a computing device, media content recommendations in a user interface of a television application based on at least one known preference of a user. A method may receive, by the computing device, a request for media content suggestions not based on the at least one known preference of the user. A method may in response to receiving the request for the media content suggestions, initiate, by the television application, a stateless recommendation process. A method may generate, by the stateless recommendation process, the media content suggestions. A method may display the media content suggestions in the user interface of the television application, and may receive a selection of at least one media content item associated with a respective media content suggestion. A method may update, by the stateless recommendation process, the media content suggestions based on the at least one media content item.