Personalized TV Guide via User Preference Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing television systems do not effectively present multimedia content of interest to users without requiring them to scroll through extensive on-screen guides, making it difficult for viewers to find preferred programs.
Innovation Solution
A television receiver system that monitors user preferences and behavior to create a personalized on-screen guide, automatically presenting preferred channels and programs based on user habits, favorites, and viewing history, allowing direct access to relevant content without extensive searching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the on-screen guide displays all available channels and programs, then the user can access complete information about all multimedia content, but the user must scroll through extensive lists to find preferred programs, increasing navigation time and reducing ease of operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the on-screen guide into multiple sections: a favorites section displaying user-preferred channels and programs, and a full guide section displaying all available channels. This segmentation allows the system to maintain complete information availability while providing quick access to preferred content through the separated favorites section, eliminating the need to scroll through entire channel lists.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically monitoring user viewing habits, analyzing preferences, and pre-configuring the favorites section before the user needs to search for content. The set-top box continuously tracks which channels and programs the user watches, automatically builds a favorites list based on this data, and positions these favorites at the top or in a dedicated section of the on-screen guide, so that preferred content is already prepared and immediately accessible when the user opens the guide.
2Ease of operation
If the on-screen guide shows surrounding channels by default, then the user can see channels near their current selection, but preferred channels may not be presented without scrolling, increasing loss of time
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of user preferences by continuously monitoring viewing habits and pre-configuring the default view of the on-screen guide to prioritize favorite channels and programs. When the user opens the guide, the favorites section is automatically populated and positioned for immediate visibility, eliminating the need to scroll through surrounding channels to find preferred content. This preliminary configuration ensures that the most relevant content is presented first based on accumulated user data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where user viewing behavior is continuously monitored and fed back into the preference analysis algorithm. The set-top box tracks which channels and programs the user watches, how long they watch them, and which channels they return to frequently. This feedback information is used to dynamically adjust and refine the favorites section, ensuring that the default view consistently displays the most relevant content for each user's evolving preferences.
Data Source
AI summary
One embodiment may take the form of an apparatus for providing personalized multimedia content to a user of a television system based on the user's preferences. In one implementation, a television receiver of a television system may monitor the habits and usage of the users of the system. The information gathered concerning the usage of the system may be stored in a database and accessed by the television receiver to provide multimedia options to a user that may be of interest to the user. These options may be presented to the user through any number of on-screen guides accessible by the user on the television system. In other implementations, the multimedia options based on the user's preferences may be automatically presented to the user as part of a favorite channels list at least partially constructed by the user.