Patent ID: 8839306
Filing Date: 2014-09-16
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: presenting, by a system comprising a processor, a media program to each of a plurality of user devices; collecting, by the system, a temporal action comprising a commentary initiated by the plurality of user devices while the media program is presented; creating, by the system, a symbolic overlay corresponding to the temporal action initiated by each of the plurality of user devices; combining, by the system, the presentation of the media program with a presentation of the symbolic overlay at the plurality of user devices, wherein the temporal action comprising the commentary is depicted in the symbolic overlay utilizing a timeline associated with the presentation of the media program and utilizing selectable commentary icons positioned along the timeline in combination with symbolic icons for display on a screen, wherein each symbolic icon depicts an avatar representation of each user of the plurality of user devices, a live webcam image representation of each user of the plurality of user devices, a still image representation of each user of the plurality of user devices, or an animated representation of each user of the plurality of user devices; and using, by the system, the commentary initiated by the plurality of user devices to conduct searches for products associated with the media program being presented on the screen, wherein, when the commentary initiated by the plurality of user devices is associated with a particular product shown in a scene observed during the presentation of the media program, highlighting an image of the particular product overlaid on the screen, conducting the searches for other competitor products of a same or similar type of the particular product, and simultaneously presenting results of the searches for the other competitor products of the same or similar type of the particular product in an overlaid area on the screen.