Systems and methods for overriding crowd-sourced auto-skip commands based on user activity

Systems and methods are provided herein for automatically overriding an auto-skip command embedded in a media asset annotation when a user profile indicates a preference for content that is to be auto-skipped. To this end, a media guidance application may play back a media asset to a user, and detect therein a skip annotation that corresponds to a portion of the media asset that is to be played back. The media guidance application may, in response to detecting the skip annotation, access metadata indicating content of the portion, compare the metadata to entries of a profile of the user, and determine whether the user prefers the content based on the comparing. If the user prefers the content, the media guidance application may refrain from executing a skip command indicated by the skip annotation.

BACKGROUND

As social media consumption and feedback becomes more prevalent between users, aggregate feedback from many users has been used to determine popular choices. For example, in related art, users are enabled to annotate media to automatically skip scenes (e.g., to fast forward through a spoiler to ensure that a user does not accidentally see scenes that might spoil a user that a user is simply browsing through). Guiding an experience by way of popular aggregate choices is known as “crowdsoucing.” Some users, however, would prefer to make decisions that are counter to popular decisions, and may not wish to be guided by crowdsourced data.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods are provided herein for overriding crowdsourced logic based on user preferences. For example, if crowdsourcing indicates that a particular scene of a movie is boring and should be skipped, but that a user would like that scene (e.g., because the user likes a character or actor in that scene), the systems and methods provided herein would ensure that the scene is not skipped and that the user's viewing experience is uninterrupted.

To this end, in some aspects of the disclosure, control circuitry of a user equipment may execute a media guidance application that may automatically override an auto-skip command embedded in a media asset annotation when a user profile indicates a preference for content that is to be auto-skipped. The media guidance application may play back a media asset to a user (or cause a media asset to be played back to a user), and may detect, during playback of the media asset, a skip annotation that corresponds to a portion of the media asset that is to be played back at a present time. For example, crowdsourced data may be transmitted with the media asset that indicates that users generally skip a scene that has just been, or is about to, be reached.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application, in response to detecting the skip annotation, may access metadata indicating content of the portion. For example, the metadata may indicate given objects, entities (e.g., actors or characters), and the like that are present in a scene of the media asset. The media guidance application may then compare the metadata to entries of a profile of the user (e.g., to determine whether the profile indicates that a user likes an actor or character of a scene that is being played back).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine whether the user prefers the content based on the comparing. For example, if an episode of Seinfeld, which is a sitcom starring a character named Kramer, is playing back, and the user prefers seeing all scenes where Kramer is present, the media guidance application may determine that the user prefers the content of the scene that crowdsourcing indicates is to be skipped.

In some embodiments, in response to determining that the user prefers the content, the media guidance application may refrain from executing a skip command indicated by the skip annotation. For example, the media guidance application may refrain from skipping a scene that is indicated as boring by crowdsourcing because the scene includes Kramer, and because the user likes all scenes with Kramer.

In some embodiments, when the media guidance application is playing back the media asset, the media guidance application may receive the media asset with auxiliary data. For example, the media asset may be received with data that indicates information about a given portion of the media asset, such as actors who are present in a scene, historical facts about where the scene was filmed, objects within the scene that are available for purchase, and any other auxiliary data. The media guidance application may, when detecting the skip annotation, detect the skip annotation within the auxiliary data. For example, the auxiliary information may indicate that the given portion of the media asset is to be skipped.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application, when detecting the skip annotation, may access a database comprising skip annotations corresponding to a plurality of playback positions of the media asset. For example, the media guidance application may access a database that compiles crowdsourced data that relates to media assets, including which media a crowd tends to skip (e.g., boring portions, spoilers, and the like). The media guidance application may determine that a playback position of the plurality of playback positions is being played back to the user during the playing back of the media asset (e.g., that a position that a crowd agrees is to be skipped is being placed back), and may, in response to determining that the playback position is being played back, detect the skip annotation.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receive feedback from a plurality of users that indicates that a given playback position of the media asset should be skipped (e.g., crowdsourced data). The media guidance application may determine whether a threshold amount of feedback has been received. For example, the media guidance application may require that enough people have indicated that a scene is boring, or that the scene contains a spoiler, for it to have a high enough confidence level that a scene in fact is objectively boring or a spoiler, and thus may require a threshold. The media guidance application, in response to determining that the threshold amount of feedback has been received, may then add the given playback position to the plurality of playback positions.

In some embodiments, when determining whether the user prefers the content based on the comparing, the media guidance application may determine whether the metadata indicates that an entity that is reflected in an entry of the profile of the user is present in the media asset at the present time. For example, as described in the foregoing, the media guidance application may determine whether an actor or character that the user prefers is within the scene. The media guidance application may refrain from skipping a portion of a media asset, notwithstanding that crowdsourcing indicates that the portion should be skipped, if such an actor or character is within the scene.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, in response to determining that the user prefers the content, execute a skip command indicated by the skip annotation. For example, the media guidance application may skip a scene of a movie based on crowdsourced data. The media guidance application may then detect that a user has reversed the skip command (e.g., by selecting an “unskip” option or by rewinding), and may update the profile to reflect that the user has reversed the skip command.

In some embodiments, after the user has reversed the skip command, the media guidance application may play back the media asset at a time subsequent to the present time, detect that the content is again being played back, and, based on the updating of the profile, may refrain from skipping the content despite the skip annotation.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application, in response to detecting that the user has reversed the skip command, may update the metadata. In some embodiments, when updating the metadata, the media guidance application may determine whether a threshold number of people have reversed the skip command. For example, the media guidance application may determine whether enough people no longer wish to skip a given scene. The media guidance application may, in response to determining that the threshold number of people have reversed the skip command, delete the skip annotation, thus avoiding an automatic skip command from occurring in the future.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application, in response to determining that the user prefers the content, may execute the skip command (e.g., because crowdsourcing indicates that a scene is to be skipped). The media guidance application may detect that the user has partially reversed the executed skip command by rewinding to an intermediate point within the portion (e.g., by seeking backward through some, but not all, content that was skipped. The media guidance application may then update the profile to reflect a preference for content between the intermediate point and the end of the portion. For example, the media guidance application may learn of actors who are present between the intermediate point and the end of the portion and update the profile to reflect a preference for those actors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1depicts an illustrative embodiment of a user interface that may include a display of a media asset and a progress indicator, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.FIG. 1includes user equipment100. User equipment100may include control circuitry, which may execute a media guidance application. The functionality of user equipment, control circuitry, and media guidance applications are described in further detail below at least with reference toFIGS. 2-5.

FIG. 1also includes media asset102. In the illustrative example ofFIG. 1, media asset102is an episode of the television sitcom Seinfeld. Media asset102, however, may be any media asset as described below with reference toFIGS. 2-5.FIG. 1also includes progress bar104and trick play indicator106. Progress bar104may indicate any progress relevant to media asset102, such as how much of media asset102has been consumed, how much of media asset102has been downloaded or buffered, how much of media asset102has been paused, and the like.

Trick play indicator106may indicate trick play activity, such as activity that alters playback of a media asset, like a fast-forward, rewind, or skip operation. In some embodiments, as will be discussed in further detail below, a media guidance application may be programmed to automatically skip one or more portions of media asset102. Trick play indicator106may indicate portions the one or more portions that are to be skipped. These indications may be visually distinct from other indications of trick play indicator106that show user-initiated trick play functions.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application executed by the control circuitry of user equipment100may automatically override an auto-skip command embedded in a media asset annotation when a user profile indicates a preference for content that is to be auto-skipped. The term “auto-skip command” (or variations thereof) is a command executed by the media guidance application when an annotation relating to a portion of a media asset indicates that the portion of the media asset is to be skipped. The term “annotation” as used herein refers to anything that may give rise to a command that corresponds to a portion to a media asset. Annotations may be provided by users (e.g., a user may rate a scene of a movie poorly) or by editors (e.g., an editor may add metadata indicating that an actor, product, or other entity relates to a given media asset portion). Annotations and related trick play functionality are discussed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0311575, published on Nov. 21, 2013, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0294755, published on Nov. 7, 2013, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may play back media asset102to a user, or may cause media asset102to be played back to a user. The manner in which media assets, such as media asset102, may be accessed and played back is described further below with reference toFIGS. 2-5. During playback of media asset102, the media guidance application may detect a skip annotation that corresponds to a portion of the media asset that is to be played back at a present time. The term “skip annotation” refers to an annotation that, when detected, will trigger a command for the portion of media asset102to be skipped over. For example, the skip annotation may indicate a range of times of media asset102to be skipped.

Skip annotations, or any annotations, as described above, may be indicated in crowdsourced data. Crowdsourcing annotations are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0311575, published on Nov. 21, 2013, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0294755, published on Nov. 7, 2013, which were mentioned in the foregoing and incorporated by reference. The crowdsourced data may be retrieved or accessed in any number of ways. For example, crowdsourced data may be transmitted with media asset102(e.g., in a vertical blanking interval, or by way of a network packet). In some embodiments, crowdsourced data may be accessed separately from the media asset. For example, memory of user equipment100(the memory is described in further detail with reference toFIGS. 2-5) may include a database entry with crowdsoured data. As another example, a third party server or database may store information about crowdsourced data including annotations relating to media asset102, and the media guidance application of user equipment100may access the crowdsourced data in response to the media guidance application beginning playback of media asset102.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may cause trick play indicator106of progress bar104to occur at a time when a portion of media asset102is skipped. In some embodiments, the media guidance application may cause trick play indicator106of progress bar104to populate with portions of media asset102that are to be skipped prior to a user progressing to a part of media asset102that is to be skipped. Thus, as is indicated in progress bar104, there may be multiple trick play indicators106pre-populated so that a user can see in advance what will be skipped. The media guidance application may detect a user interaction with a progress indicator106(e.g., by way of a user input interface, which is described further below with respect toFIGS. 2-5), and may responsively either cancel the skip operation in advance, or may provide the user with further information. The further information may include information about what plot points are in the portion of media asset102are to be skipped, what actors or objects are in that portion, and the like. The media guidance application may retrieve the further information from a database, such as a media content source or a media guidance data source, which is described in further detail below with reference toFIGS. 2-5, and may generate for display the information in response to the interaction. As an example, the interaction may be the user tapping trick play indicator106with a finger, or hovering a cursor over trick play indicator106.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application, in response to detecting the skip annotation, may access metadata indicating content of the portion. The metadata may be stored locally in the memory of user equipment100, or may be stored at a different user equipment accessible to user equipment100, or may be stored at a remote database such as the below-described media content source or media guidance data source. The metadata may alternatively be transmitted with media asset102as described above. In some embodiments, the metadata may indicate given objects, entities (e.g., actors or characters), and the like that are present in a portion of media asset102. For example, the metadata may be from an entry of a data table that maps attributes of media asset102to times or time ranges in which the attributes occur. Thus, the metadata may reflect any object, actor, entity, trivia, and the like that relates to any given portion of media asset102.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may then compare the metadata of media asset102to entries of a profile of the user. The profile of the user may be stored in any location referenced with respect to the metadata. User profiles are described in further detail with respect toFIGS. 2-5below. Entries of the profile of the user may indicate preferences of a user, such as actors that a user favors, genres of scenes of media assets that the user favors (e.g., prefers comedy to action), and any other preference that a user may have. The media guidance application may perform the comparison in order to learn whether an attribute of a portion of media asset102that is to be skipped due to a skip annotation corresponds to an attribute that the user prefers. For example, if media asset102is an episode of Seinfeld, which is a sitcom starring a character named Kramer, and the media guidance application determines, from the user profile, that the user prefers seeing all scenes where Kramer is present, the media guidance application may determine that the user prefers the content of the scene that crowdsourcing indicates is to be skipped. Thus, media guidance application is enabled to determine whether a user's preferences are counter to that of the larger crowd that is supplying the annotations.

In some embodiments, in response to determining that the user prefers the content, the media guidance application may refrain from executing a skip command indicated by the skip annotation. For example, the media guidance application may refrain from skipping a scene that is indicated as boring by crowdsourcing because the scene includes Kramer, and the user prefers Kramer. The media guidance application may perform this refraining in real-time (e.g., by performing the comparison as the skip annotation is reached). Real-time analysis may be advantageous where the metadata is transmitted with the media asset. The media guidance application may also perform this refraining ahead of time (e.g., may determine at the start of playback of media asset102, or even sooner, which skip annotations should be ignored in favor of user preferences).

In some embodiments, when the media guidance application determines that a skip annotation is to be ignored in favor of user preferences, the media guidance application may delete trick play indicator106from progress bar104. In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine whether a skip annotation is to be ignored in favor of user preferences if a user interacts (in the manner described above) with a trick play indicator106.

In some embodiments, when the media guidance application is playing back the media asset, the media guidance application may receive the media asset with auxiliary data. For example, the metadata corresponding to media asset102may be received in an auxiliary data stream with other data about media asset102. The auxiliary data stream may be any data stream received concurrently with media asset102(e.g., a vertical blanking interval data stream or a data stream received over an auxiliary channel such as a network channel). The media guidance application may, when detecting the skip annotation, detect the skip annotation within the auxiliary data. For example, the media guidance application may determine (e.g., in real-time) that the auxiliary information indicates that the given portion of the media asset is to be skipped.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application, when detecting the skip annotation, may access a database comprising skip annotations corresponding to a plurality of playback positions of the media asset. For example, a data table may be populated at any place that was described above where metadata may be stored, and the data table may indicate portions of a media asset that a crowd indicates should be skipped. The media guidance application may access this data table to determine whether any given portion of a media asset is to be skipped. The data table may be dynamically updated as the crowd's decisions develop and evolve and more input from a crowd is received.

In some embodiments, when the media guidance application (or a remote server that manages a data table for a crowd's reaction to media asset102) receives feedback from a plurality of users (the crowd) that indicates that a given playback position of the media asset should be skipped (e.g., crowdsourced data), the media guidance application may determine whether a threshold amount of feedback has been received. For example, the media guidance application may require that enough people have indicated that a scene is boring or a spoiler for it to have a high enough confidence level that a scene in fact is objectively boring or a spoiler. The media guidance application, in response to determining that the threshold amount of feedback has been received, may then add the given playback position to the plurality of playback positions, thus causing a corresponding portion of media asset102.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, in response to determining that the user prefers the content, or in response to determining that the user does not prefer the content, execute a skip command indicated by the skip annotation. For example, the media guidance application may skip a scene of a movie based on the above-described crowdsourced data. The media guidance application may then detect that a user has reversed the skip command (e.g., by selecting an “unskip” option or by rewinding), and may update the profile to reflect that the user has reversed the skip command. For example, the media guidance application may detect the attributes of the unskipped portion of media asset102and may update the profile to account for a preference toward those attributes.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, prior to updating the profile of the user, in response to detecting a reversal of a skip command, query the user as to why the user reversed the skip command. For example, the query may leverage metadata corresponding to the skipped portion and ask the user which attribute caused the user to unskip the portion. The attributes may be listed, and may be individually selectable. The query may appear on user equipment100or a different user equipment (such as a smart phone or tablet, using a push notification).

In some embodiments, after the user has reversed the skip command, the media guidance application may play back media asset102at a time subsequent to the present time (e.g., as a re-run, or the media guidance application may re-play media asset102when a user requests it be played back again). The media guidance application may detect that the content is again being played back, and, based on the updating of the profile, refrain from skipping the content despite the skip annotation. Thus, the media guidance application may detect in a future portion of media asset102that a preferred attribute from the unskipped portion has recurred in a portion that the crowd has again suggested be skipped, and refrain from skipping that portion.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application, in response to detecting that the user has reversed the skip command, may update the metadata. In some embodiments, when updating the metadata, the media guidance application may determine whether a threshold number of people have reversed the skip command. For example, if a threshold number of people who must skip a portion of a media asset is 10,000, and exactly 10,000 had skipped the portion, and then the user unskipped the portion, the number of people who had skipped may be reduced to 9,999 which is below the threshold. This number may be reduced for every user who has reversed the skip command. Alternatively, the media guidance application may separately track the number of people who have reversed the skip command, and override the crowd of people who caused the skip command to occur in the first place if a threshold number of people have reversed the skip command. The media guidance application may, in response to determining that the threshold number of people have reversed the skip command, delete the skip annotation, thus avoiding an automatic skip command from occurring in the future.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application, in response to determining that the user prefers the content, may execute the skip command (e.g., because crowdsourcing indicates that a scene is to be skipped). The media guidance application may detect that the user has partially reversed the executed skip command by rewinding to an intermediate point within the portion (e.g., by seeking backward through some, but not all, content that was skipped). The media guidance application may then update the profile to reflect a preference for content between the intermediate point and the end of the portion (e.g., by leveraging attributes reflected by metadata corresponding to content of media asset102between the intermediate point and the end of the portion. For example, the media guidance application may learn of actors who are present between the intermediate point and the end of the portion and update the profile to reflect a preference for those actors.

FIG. 2shows illustrative grid of a program listings display200arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different types of content in a single display. Display200may include grid202with: (1) a column of channel/content type identifiers204, where each channel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column) identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a row of time identifiers206, where each time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid202also includes cells of program listings, such as program listing208, where each listing provides the title of the program provided on the listing's associated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can select program listings by moving highlight region210. Information relating to the program listing selected by highlight region210may be provided in program information region212. Region212may include, for example, the program title, the program description, the time the program is provided (if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), the program's rating, and other desired information.

Grid202may provide media guidance data for non-linear programming including on-demand listing214, recorded content listing216, and Internet content listing218. A display combining media guidance data for content from different types of content sources is sometimes referred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of the types of media guidance data that may be displayed that are different than display200may be based on user selection or guidance application definition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings, only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings214,216, and218are shown as spanning the entire time block displayed in grid202to indicate that selection of these listings may provide access to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings, or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings for these content types may be included directly in grid202. Additional media guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selecting one of the navigational icons220. (Pressing an arrow key on a user input device may affect the display in a similar manner as selecting navigational icons220.)

Display200may also include video region222, and options region226. Video region222may allow the user to view and/or preview programs that are currently available, will be available, or were available to the user. The content of video region222may correspond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed in grid202. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referred to as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included in other media guidance application display screens of the embodiments described herein.

Options region226may allow the user to access different types of content, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidance application features. Options region226may be part of display200(and other display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user by selecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignable button on a user input device. The selectable options within options region226may concern features related to program listings in grid202or may include options available from a main menu display. Features related to program listings may include searching for other air times or ways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling series recording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite, purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a main menu display may include search options, VOD options, parental control options, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronization options, second screen device options, options to access various types of media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premium service, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browse overlay, or other options.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 3. Video mosaic display300includes selectable options302for content information organized based on content type, genre, and/or other organization criteria. In display300, television listings option304is selected, thus providing listings306,308,310, and312as broadcast program listings. In display300the listings may provide graphical images including cover art, still images from the content, video clip previews, live video from the content, or other types of content that indicate to a user the content being described by the media guidance data in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also be accompanied by text to provide further information about the content associated with the listing. For example, listing308may include more than one portion, including media portion314and text portion316. Media portion314and/or text portion316may be selectable to view content in full-screen or to view information related to the content displayed in media portion314(e.g., to view listings for the channel that the video is displayed on).

The listings in display300are of different sizes (i.e., listing306is larger than listings308,310, and312), but if desired, all the listings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes or graphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user or to emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider or based on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphically accentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and its display screens described above and below) from one or more of their user equipment devices.FIG. 4shows a generalized embodiment of illustrative user equipment device400. More specific implementations of user equipment devices are discussed below in connection withFIG. 5. User equipment device400may receive content and data via input/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path402. I/O path402may provide content (e.g., broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, content available over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), and/or other content) and data to control circuitry404, which includes processing circuitry406and storage408. Control circuitry404may be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable data using I/O path402. I/O path402may connect control circuitry404(and specifically processing circuitry406) to one or more communications paths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a single path inFIG. 4to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry404using user input interface410. User input interface410may be any suitable user interface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard, touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognition interface, or other user input interfaces. Display412may be provided as a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of user equipment device400. For example, display412may be a touchscreen or touch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface410may be integrated with or combined with display412. Display412may be one or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature poly silicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, active matrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathode ray tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescent display, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display, thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display, surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television, carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulator display, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images. In some embodiments, display412may be HDTV-capable. In some embodiments, display412may be a 3D display, and the interactive media guidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. A video card or graphics card may generate the output to the display412. The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be any processing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry404. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry404. Speakers414may be provided as integrated with other elements of user equipment device400or may be stand-alone units. The audio component of videos and other content displayed on display412may be played through speakers414. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers414.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitable architecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application wholly-implemented on user equipment device400. In such an approach, instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage408), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, or using another suitable approach). Control circuitry404may retrieve instructions of the application from storage408and process the instructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based on the processed instructions, control circuitry404may determine what action to perform when input is received from input interface410. For example, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated by the processed instructions when input interface410indicates that an up/down button was selected.

User equipment device400ofFIG. 4can be implemented in system500ofFIG. 5as user television equipment502, user computer equipment504, wireless user communications device506, or any other type of user equipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gaming machine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to herein collectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may be substantially similar to user equipment devices described above. User equipment devices, on which a media guidance application may be implemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of a network of devices. Various network configurations of devices may be implemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system features described above in connection withFIG. 4may not be classified solely as user television equipment502, user computer equipment504, or a wireless user communications device506. For example, user television equipment502may, like some user computer equipment504, be Internet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while user computer equipment504may, like some television equipment502, include a tuner allowing for access to television programming. The media guidance application may have the same layout on various different types of user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of the user equipment. For example, on user computer equipment504, the guidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a web browser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled down for wireless user communications devices506.

In system500, there is typically more than one of each type of user equipment device but only one of each is shown inFIG. 5to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize more than one type of user equipment device and also more than one of each type of user equipment device.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network514. Namely, user television equipment502, user computer equipment504, and wireless user communications device506are coupled to communications network514via communications paths508,510, and512, respectively. Communications network514may be one or more networks including the Internet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a 4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, or other types of communications network or combinations of communications networks. Paths508,510, and512may separately or together include one or more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g., IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path or combination of such paths. Path512is drawn with dotted lines to indicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown inFIG. 5it is a wireless path and paths508and510are drawn as solid lines to indicate they are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, if desired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a single path inFIG. 5to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

System500includes content source516and media guidance data source518coupled to communications network514via communication paths520and522, respectively. Paths520and522may include any of the communication paths described above in connection with paths508,510, and512. Communications with the content source516and media guidance data source518may be exchanged over one or more communications paths, but are shown as a single path inFIG. 5to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of content source516and media guidance data source518, but only one of each is shown inFIG. 5to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The different types of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, content source516and media guidance data source518may be integrated as one source device. Although communications between sources516and518with user equipment devices502,504, and506are shown as through communications network514, in some embodiments, sources516and518may communicate directly with user equipment devices502,504, and506via communication paths (not shown) such as those described above in connection with paths508,510, and512.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outside a home can use their media guidance application to communicate directly with content source516to access content. Specifically, within a home, users of user television equipment502and user computer equipment504may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locate desirable content. Users may also access the media guidance application outside of the home using wireless user communications devices506to navigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloud computing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computing environment, various types of computing services for content sharing, storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networking sites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing and storage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloud can include a collection of server computing devices, which may be located centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-based services to various types of users and devices connected via a network such as the Internet via communications network514. These cloud resources may include one or more content sources516and one or more media guidance data sources518. In addition or in the alternative, the remote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such as user television equipment502, user computer equipment504, and wireless user communications device506. For example, the other user equipment devices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamed video. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in a peer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

FIG. 6depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for overriding a crowdsourced indication to skip a portion of a media asset when a profile indicates that a user viewing the media asset would enjoy the portion, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Process600begins at602, where a media guidance application (e.g., the media guidance application executed by control circuitry of user equipment100) may play back a media asset (e.g., media asset102) to a user.

User equipment100may have the same functionalities described with respect to user television equipment502, user computer equipment504, and/or wireless user communications device506above. The control circuitry of user equipment100may have the same functionality of control circuitry404. The memory of user equipment100described above may have the same functionality of storage408described above. When user equipment100plays back media asset102, the user equipment may leverage display412and speakers414to play back the video and audio components, respectively, of media asset102. Media asset102may be accessed by way of media content source516, which may communicate by way of communications network514.

Process600may continue to604, where the media guidance application may detect, during playback of media asset102, a skip annotation that corresponds to a portion of the media asset that is to be played back at a present time. The skip annotation may be received and/or detected in any manner described above. The skip annotation may be received from media content source516or from media guidance data source518, both by way of communications network514. Alternatively, the skip annotation may be stored at storage408of user equipment100or any other user equipment.

Process600may continue to606, where the media guidance application may, in response to detecting the skip annotation, access metadata indicating content of the portion. The metadata and mechanisms for accessing the metadata are described in the foregoing. The metadata may be accessed from media content source516, media guidance data source518, and/or storage408of user equipment100or any other user equipment.

Process600may continue to608, where the media guidance application may compare the metadata to entries of a profile of the user. This comparison may be performed in any manner described in the foregoing. The profile may be stored at storage408of user equipment100(or any other user equipment), or may be stored at media guidance data source518or media content source516, which may be accessed by way of communications network514.

Process600may continue to610, where the media guidance application may determine whether the user prefers the content based on the comparing. This determination may be performed in any manner described above, and is fleshed out further below with respect toFIG. 7. Process600may continue to612, where, in response to determining that the user prefers the content, the media guidance application may refrain from executing a skip command indicated by the skip annotation. Thus, media asset102will continue to play back as normal without a skip operation occurring on the portion of the media asset.

FIG. 7depicts an illustrative flowchart of a process for determining whether a user would sufficiently enjoy a portion of a media asset that crowdsourcing should be skipped in order to determine whether to override the crowdsourced indication, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Process700begins at702, where the media guidance application (e.g., of user equipment100) may identify, from the metadata, a plurality of entities that are present in content of the media asset that is at a portion of the media asset indicated by the skip annotation. This identification may be performed in any manner described above, such as using a reference table that notes each object that is in a frame of a video, or by using object recognition in the frame to individually determine an identity of each person/object in the frame.

Process700may continue to704, where the media guidance application may compare each entity of the plurality of entities to entities that the profile of the user indicates that the user prefers. For example, as described above, the profile of the user of user equipment102may indicate that the user prefers the character Kramer from the television sitcom Seinfeld. If media asset102is an episode of Seinfeld, and a skip annotation corresponds to a scene with Kramer in it, the media guidance application would determine based on the comparison that the user prefers an entity in the portion indicated by the skip annotation.

Process700may continue to706, where the media guidance application may determine whether a sufficient amount of entities of the plurality of entities match entities of the profile. For example, the media guidance application may determine whether enough (e.g., a threshold amount) characters, actors, or object that match entities of the profile are within the portion for the portion to be deemed worthwhile to the user. The threshold may be set by the user, set by default settings, or be dynamic and change based on how many entities a user enjoys must be in a scene for the user to enjoy the scene. Each entity may have a certain weight—if a profile reflects that a user prefers one character or object to another, the preferred object may count more toward meeting the threshold than the less preferred object or entity. As an alternative, the media guidance application may determine whether an entity is within the portion for a long enough (e.g., threshold) period of time. Again, the threshold period of time may be set by the user, by default settings, or dynamic based on the user profile. Entities may be weighted, and the weight may affect the threshold period of time. For example, if a user prefers two entities, but prefers one more than the other, the more preferred entity may require a shorter threshold of presence (e.g., 10 seconds) than the less preferred entity (1 minute) for the scene to be deemed worth not skipping despite the skip annotation.

Process700may continue to708, where the media guidance application may determine whether a sufficient amount of entities match (or whether an entity is in the portion to be skipped for a sufficient amount of time). If the answer is in the affirmative, process700may continue to710, where the media guidance application may refrain from executing the skip command indicated by the skip annotation. If the answer is in the negative, the media guidance application may execute the skip command indicated by the skip annotation.

It should be noted that processes600-700or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown inFIGS. 1 and 4-5. For example, any of processes600-700may be executed by control circuitry404(FIG. 4) as instructed by control circuitry implemented on user equipment502,504, and/or506(FIG. 5) in order to detect a skip annotation. In addition, one or more steps of processes600-700may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiment.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that methods involved in the present invention may be embodied in a computer program product that includes a computer-usable and/or readable medium. For example, such a computer-usable medium may consist of a read-only memory device, such as a CD-ROM disk or conventional ROM device, or a random access memory, such as a hard drive device or a computer diskette, having a computer-readable program code stored thereon. It should also be understood that methods, techniques, and processes involved in the present invention may be executed using processing circuitry. For instance, identifying entities within content may be performed, e.g., by processing circuitry406ofFIG. 4. The processing circuitry, for instance, may be a general purpose processor, a customized integrated circuit (e.g., an ASIC), or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) within user equipment400, media content source516, or media guidance data source518. For example, a profile, as described herein, may be stored in, and retrieved from, storage408ofFIG. 4, or media guidance data source518ofFIG. 5. Furthermore, processing circuitry, or a computer program, may update settings associated with a user, such as profile settings, stored within storage408ofFIG. 4or media guidance data source518ofFIG. 5.

While some portions of this disclosure may make reference to “convention” or “related art,” any such reference is merely for the purpose of providing context to the invention(s) of the instant disclosure, and does not form any admission as to what constitutes the state of the art.