Abstract:
A system and method for editing multimedia content. A server transmits multimedia content to a plurality of electronic devices. Each of the plurality of electronic devices enables a user to perform at least one action in relation to the multimedia content. A a voting engine gathers information concerning the actions performed by users in relation to the multimedia content transmitted to the electronic devices. In response to the information gathered by the voting engine, the multimedia content is modified based upon predefined criteria. The modified multimedia content is subsequently provided to later users.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/167,567, filed on Jun. 27, 2005. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/167,567 is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the editing of multimedia content. More particularly, the present invention relates to the collaborative editing of multimedia content by a plurality of users based upon actions of the users. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Video images are extremely attractive and effective in conveying information to people. This is due in large part to the exceptional capability of human eyes to process a viewed image. A person can view a very brief video clip, yet still obtain and retain important information from the clip. This is clearly demonstrated by the prevalence of television commercials and music videos comprising very short “cuts” or video clips. 
     In recent years, devices for recording video streams have become increasingly commonplace. In particular, camera phones and digital cameras have exploded in popularity, creating an enormous multimedia recorder base. Additionally, Internet-connected personal computers and other communication-capable devices make interactive media stream consumption possible, and the storage capability in these devices has become very inexpensive. 
     At the same time that the ability to record video streams has progressed among users, “collaborative editing” has also become more commonplace. In collaborative editing, multiple users are capable of working together in order to edit a video stream as necessary or desired. For example, multiple users can collaborate through different devices to cut, combine, or otherwise modify video streams for future viewing. However, even though these types of edits can be made to video streams by multiple users simultaneously, these edits are of the “active” variety, i.e., through the use of multimedia editing programs or similar software, where the purpose of the activity is to edit the stream. Other systems comprise “unorganized” collaborative editing, where the individual users are not aware of others who may also be influencing the editing process. In such systems, the resulting content may be the result of a “behaviour analysis” process, wherein the actions of the individual users is used as an input. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides for a system of collaborative editing of media streams based upon actions of earlier viewers. The present invention enables collaborative editing and consumption of media streams of raw material produced by the greater public or members of a community. The raw media stream is edited or refined according to the actions of those individuals who view the material, resulting in a “passive” editing process. The viewer actions are generated with a controller device, such as a mobile phone, that uses a control connection to a media processing server or separate voting engine that may be attached or integrated to the playback device. 
     Collaborative editing according to the present invention can result in the creation of entirely new compositions. The collaborative editing of the present invention may be either explicit or implicit and may affect either the entire media stream or only a portion of the stream. In the present invention, a media element or component can be presented in a new context, as a part of a composition where the element has not been previously included, or has been included in some other manner. In the present invention, a new video clip or picture can be used to present an event or place which was previously presented in the composition. Media elements may also be combined by, for example, mixing a new soundtrack with a video or picture. 
     The present invention may also involve the manipulation of audio information in addition to video information. For example, implicit collaboration may be used to adjust the volume of a selected audio portion of a media stream. Additionally, if users choose their own music to be played with a video clip, the music selections may be used to select a soundtrack for future users. 
     The present invention provides a significant improvement over current editing systems. With collaborative editing, the creation of highly usable media streams can be accomplished with shared efforts by viewers without the need for paid or professional editing work. Multimedia messaging also becomes more user friendly with the present invention by better exploiting human capabilities in playback situations. Collaborative editing according to the present invention can occur either explicitly or implicitly, and the editing can occur continuously, resulting in a continuous refinement of the media stream at issue. 
     These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention, together with the organization and manner of operation thereof, will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements have like numerals throughout the several drawings described below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an overview diagram of a system within which the present invention may be implemented; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a mobile telephone that can be used in the implementation of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic representation of the telephone circuitry of the mobile telephone of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a representation of a system including a recording device, a media processing server, and a playback device according to one embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing the implementation of one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention is based on the automated composition of a raw media stream from multi media or plain still image material recorded by individuals or observation cameras, such as web cams. A typical composition method according to the present invention involves collecting media items offered in a category selected by the recording individual in a sequence according to recording time. 
     The raw media stream is edited or refined according to actions of those individuals who view the material. A typical editing method according to the present invention involves a system that obtains information concerning the viewing actions of individual viewers. When an image or stream is displayed that is of a particular interest to an individual, the individual users can browse the multimedia stream in many ways. The viewing actions that are involved in the editing process can comprise typical implicit editing methods, and the outcome is based upon an analysis of the actions by those individuals who view the material. Actions that can be used in the collaborative editing process include, but are not limited to, the use of an “accelerated playback” mode, viewing the stream at a normal playback speed, repeatedly viewing the same portion of content, adjusting the volume, bass, balance, fade, treble or other audio-related aspects of the content, zooming within the multimedia content, panning within the multimedia content, or viewing the content in slow motion. As used herein, “panning” refers to, if a picture ratio in a video is wider than a device&#39;s display, adjusting the positioning of the video so that a selected portion of the video remains viewable by the user. All of the above actions can be considered as indications of interest to that portion of the media stream. Information concerning all of these actions can be consolidated with a conventional data mining technique or similar method in order to refine the appears appearance of the media stream for subsequent users and/or viewers. 
       FIG. 4  is a representation showing a collaborative media stream editing process according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , a recording device  100  is used to capture an image or a video stream, referred to herein generically as content  110 , and transmit the content  110  to a processing server  120 . The recording device  100  can take a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, a digital movie recorder, a conventional movie recorder, a digital camera, and a mobile telephone with built-in camera capabilities. 
     The processing server  120  transmits the content  110  to at least one playback device  130 . The playback device  130  can also take a wide variety of forms, including virtually any device that includes some form of display unit. The playback device  130  can include either a built-in or an otherwise associated controller  140  that enables the viewer to manipulate the media stream. The controller  140  can include items such as a joystick, keyboard keys, touch pads, a touch-sensitive display, or a variety of other features that allow the viewer to manipulate the content  110 . In one embodiment of the invention, a mobile telephone serves as the controller  140 . 
     The system depicted in  FIG. 4  also includes a voting engine  150 . The voting engine  150  is used to collect information concerning the activities of each individual viewer. The voting engine  150  keeps track of how many viewers perform particular actions around individual content segments, including whether viewers fast forward past a segment, whether a viewer watches a segment multiple times, etc. The voting engine  150  is incorporated into the processing server  120  in one embodiment of the invention. The voting engine  150  can also be a stand-alone device. In addition, the voting engine  150  can also be incorporated into the recording device  100 , into one or more playback devices  130 , or into one or more controllers  140 . 
     In one embodiment of the invention, several individuals simultaneously view the media stream in a broadcast mode using respective playback devices  130 . The playback devices  130  can each include their own controller  140  or other mechanism, or a single playback device  130  can be connected to multiple controllers  140 , where individuals can view and control the content  120  through one of the controllers. Each user or viewer can use a controller  140  to generate viewer actions. The viewer actions are processed by the voting engine  150 . This information can be used by the voting engine  150  to generate an altered or edited appearance of the media stream and to control the playback of the media stream. 
     Editing actions that can be implemented by a playback device  130  in order to alter the appearance of the content include, but are not limited to: adjusting the time to keep a still image on the display, selecting the part of a video clip to be exhibited at a slower speed, selecting a still image or frame to be shown from a video clip when browsing a video stream, adjusting the volume, bass, treble, balance, fade or other audio-related aspects of a content portion, zooming within the multimedia content, panning within the multimedia content, and skipping a portion of a video stream. 
     Editing actions, such as those discussed above, result in the generation of a modified appearance for the media stream for future viewing. For example, in the event that several viewers “rewind” a portion of a video stream in order to watch the portion more than one time, it may be determined that that particular portion should be given more prominence when exhibited to future users. As a result, the media processing server  120  may adjust the media stream for future users so that the particular portion is shown in slow motion. Conversely, portions which are skipped over by users could be deemphasized for future viewers. Other possibilities include the showing of a more detailed view of the content portion, an accelerated rate of exhibiting the piece of content, or other actions. In any event, the end result of this collaborative editing process is the subsequent display of the content in a modified fashion that is likely to be of more interest to the user than the content in an unmodified form. 
     It should be noted that the media stream can include not only video and/or still images but also other media forms such as audio. In such situations, the different portions can edited independent from each other in one embodiment of the invention. For example, an audio portion of a media stream can be independently edited without editing the video or image portion of the content. 
     In one particular implementation of the present invention, a basic mobile telephone with a built-in camera is used as a recording device  100 , which is used to post content  110  to a selected raw media channel. The media processing server  120  receives posts to the raw media channel and creates online and browsing media streams according to the actions of the individual viewers. A playback device, such as a multimedia playback-capable telephone or personal computer, is able to receive and play the stream. According to this embodiment of the invention, a number of the playback devices need to have the ability to obtain information regarding the viewer actions and to communicate information about the actions to the media processing server  120 . Some playback devices may be able to react to viewer actions locally while, at the same time, consuming a media stream received from the media processing server  120 . 
       FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing the implementation of one embodiment of the present invention. At  200 , a recording device  100  records content  110  from a source. In a particular embodiment of the invention, this can be in the form of live-action recording of video, although it is also possible that the content  110  can take the form of a series of still images, or the content  110  can take other forms. At step  210 , the content  110  is transmitted to the media processing server  120 . It should be noted that the content  110  can be transmitted in real time to the media processing server  120 , or the content  110  can be stored in the recording device  110  and transmitted at a later time to the media processing server. At step  220 , the content  110  is transmitted to at least one playback device  130 . At step  230 , the content  110  is viewed by at least one user. At step  240 , each user uses his or her controller  140  to view the content  110  in a specific way, e.g., by fast-forwarding through portions, playing portions in slow motion, etc. At step  250 , information concerning how the content  110  is viewed is transmitted to the voting engine  150 , which collects this information from each user that views the content  110 . At step  260 , the voting engine uses the information to generate modified content, which is transmitted to subsequent viewers at step  270 . 
     The generation of modified content can occur according to predefined criteria. “Predefined criteria” can be both relative and absolute and can be based upon the number of viewers of content, the number of consecutive viewers performing the same action, the frequency of performing a particular action by viewers or a wide variety of other suitable measures. For example, the predefined criteria can state that, if more than a certain percentage of viewers fast-forward through a particular segment, then the modified content should exhibit that portion of the content at an accelerated rate in the future. The content  110  then continues to be viewed and modified over time. The generation of modified content can occur through the use of an engine having an artificial intelligence. In this situation, the objective of the artificial intelligence is to generate content which would match the needs and tastes of an average consumer, or content which would match the needs of a “key user” of a specific target group. 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, a particular playback device  130  may access the content  110  with an indication to view the content  110  only when it has been altered and edited such that the content has obtained a desired level of “maturity” quality. 
       FIG. 1  shows a system  10  in which the present invention can be utilized, comprising multiple communication devices that can communicate through a network. The system  10  may comprise any combination of wired or wireless networks including, but not limited to, a mobile telephone network, a wireless Local Area Network (LAN), a Bluetooth personal area network, an Ethernet LAN, a token ring LAN, a wide area network, the Internet, etc. The system  10  may include both wired and wireless communication devices. 
     For exemplification, the system  10  shown in  FIG. 1  includes a mobile telephone network  11  and the Internet  28 . Connectivity to the Internet  28  may include, but is not limited to, long range wireless connections, short range wireless connections, and various wired connections including, but not limited to, telephone lines, cable lines, power lines, and the like. 
     The exemplary communication devices of the system  10  may include, but are not limited to, a mobile telephone  12 , a combination PDA and mobile telephone  14 , a PDA  16 , an integrated messaging device (IMD)  18 , a desktop computer  20 , and a notebook computer  22 . The communication devices may be stationary or mobile as when carried by an individual who is moving. The communication devices may also be located in a mode of transportation including, but not limited to, an automobile, a truck, a taxi, a bus, a boat, an airplane, a bicycle, a motorcycle, etc. Some or all of the communication devices may send and receive calls and messages and communicate with service providers through a wireless connection  25  to a base station  24 . The base station  24  may be connected to a network server  26  that allows communication between the mobile telephone network  11  and the Internet  28 . The system  10  may include additional communication devices and communication devices of different types. 
     The communication devices may communicate using various transmission technologies including, but not limited to, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), e-mail, Instant Messaging Service (IMS), Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, etc. A communication device may communicate using various media including, but not limited to, radio, infrared, laser, cable connection, and the like. 
       FIGS. 2 and 3  show one representative mobile telephone  12  within which the present invention may be implemented. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is not intended to be limited to one particular type of mobile telephone  12  or other electronic device. The mobile telephone  12  of  FIGS. 2 and 3  includes a housing  30 , a display  32  in the form of a liquid crystal display, a keypad  34 , a microphone  36 , an ear-piece  38 , a battery  40 , an infrared port  42 , an antenna  44 , a smart card  46  in the form of a UICC according to one embodiment of the invention, a card reader  48 , radio interface circuitry  52 , codec circuitry  54 , a controller  56  and a memory  58 . Individual circuits and elements are all of a type well known in the art, for example in the Nokia range of mobile telephones. 
     The present invention is described in the general context of method steps, which may be implemented in one embodiment by a program product including computer-executable instructions, such as program code, executed by computers in networked environments. 
     Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executable instructions, associated data structures, and program modules represent examples of program code for executing steps of the methods disclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executable instructions or associated data structures represents examples of corresponding acts for implementing the functions described in such steps. 
     Software and web implementations of the present invention could be accomplished with standard programming techniques with rule based logic and other logic to accomplish the various database searching steps, correlation steps, comparison steps and decision steps. It should also be noted that the words “component” and “module” as used herein, and in the claims, is intended to encompass implementations using one or more lines of software code, and/or hardware implementations, and/or equipment for receiving manual inputs. 
     The foregoing description of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the present invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the present invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.