Patent Publication Number: US-2004049434-A1

Title: Method and system for providing home shopping programs

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
     [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/161,038, filed Jun. 3, 2002, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/090,439, filed Mar. 4, 2002, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/487,120, filed Jan. 19, 2000. The related applications are incorporate by reference herein. 
    
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0003] The present invention relates generally to providing home shopping motion picture video. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing personalized home shopping motion picture video to viewers.  
       [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art  
       [0005] Conventionally, on broadcast television, there are programs that advertise a product and provide viewers with the ability to make a purchase by ordering over the phone, the internet, or directly over the television set. A program that advertises a product and gives the viewer the ability to purchase the item is a home shopping program. Some examples of such programs are infomercials, advertisements, and broadcast shopping channels.  
       [0006] Infomercials are typically the same duration as a regular television program. An infomercial usually runs for about thirty minutes to an hour. An infomercial is essentially an extended commercial about a particular product. The seller of the product produces and airs the infomercial with the goal of informing the viewer about the product for sale, and persuading the viewer to purchase the product. Every so often, during the infomercial, a phone number or website will be displayed allowing the viewer an opportunity to make the purchase.  
       [0007] An advertisement is commonly a fifteen second to one minute segment that attempts to sell a particular product by discussing the product and finally providing a phone number or website where the product can be purchased.  
       [0008] Broadcast shopping channels are broadcast channels dedicated to selling products around the clock. These shopping channels are usually live and spend a few minutes on a particular product, before moving on to the next product. Broadcast shopping channels can essentially be defined as continuous, back to back, home shopping programs.  
       [0009] As noted in the above examples, home shopping programs come in many forms. Also note that all home shopping programs inform the viewer about a product and give the viewer the ability to purchase the product without leaving the home (if the viewer is watching the home shopping program at home).  
       [0010] There are several disadvantages in the way home shopping programs are distributed on television today.  
       [0011] A first disadvantage is that since advertisements and infomercials are not aired on broadcast television on a given channel around the clock, the viewer must either find these home shopping programs, or by chance come across these home shopping programs. If the viewer wants to shop using the television set at a particular time, it is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find these home shopping programs. This, of course, is not a problem with broadcast shopping channels since they are airing home shopping programs around the clock.  
       [0012] A second disadvantage that applies to all of today&#39;s home shopping programs is the inefficient “shotgun” distribution of products and advertisements. A home shopping program for a particular product is aired on a broadcasting channel to everybody. This means that all viewers will see the same home shopping program whether or not they are interested in the product. For example, both a twenty year old male living in California and a sixty year old female living in Ohio will see the same home shopping program while watching shopping channel X.  
       [0013] A third disadvantage is that a viewer does not have the ability to shop for a particular type of product. For example, if a viewer is looking for baseball equipment to buy as a birthday gift for his friend, it will be nearly impossible for the viewer to find baseball home shopping programs.  
       [0014] A fourth disadvantage is that a viewer, while watching a broadcast shopping channel, cannot skip home shopping programs that do not interest the viewer. For example, if a viewer is watching broadcast shopping channel X, and a home shopping program selling jewelry is being shown, the viewer is unable to skip the home shopping program. The viewer must wait the appropriate amount of time before being shown the next home shopping program.  
       [0015] The subject invention is directed to a method and system that overcomes the above-described disadvantages.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016] The present invention provides a method and system for delivering home shopping programs to a viewer. The home shopping programs include, for example, infomercials, advertisements, and broadcast shopping channels.  
       [0017] A disclosed method includes the steps of receiving personalized data from the viewer, generating a home shopping program list that identifies a plurality of home shopping programs related to the personalized data, and transmitting the home shopping program list and a home shopping program identified in the program list to the viewer. The home shopping program can be viewed immediately upon its receipt.  
       [0018] The method may be carried out over a client/server network architecture, wherein the client is a general purpose computer or a television, the server is a general purpose computer, and the network is the Internet or an intranet.  
       [0019] Personalized data may include data descriptive of the viewer such as his/her gender, sports interests, and age. Personalized data may also include information descriptive of shopping occasions of interest to the viewer such as shopping for himself/herself, for a specific item, for a birthday gift, for a mother&#39;s day gift, for a wedding gift, for an anniversary gift, and shopping for a baby shower gift.  
       [0020] Another disclosed method includes the step of providing a client in communication with a server over a data network, transmitting personalized data over the client to the server, receiving a home shopping program list that identifies a plurality of home shopping programs related to the personalized data, and displaying a home shopping program, the program listed on the home shopping program list, on a display means of the client.  
       [0021] The viewer may select a home shopping program from the home shopping program list and display the selected home shopping program for viewing on the display means. In addition, the viewer may transmit to the server an order to purchase a product or service offered in a home shopping program. Further, the viewer may modify a home shopping program list by selecting a function for inserting a new home shopping program into, removing a home shopping program from, or moving a home shopping program within the home shopping program list. Thereafter, the viewer may transmit the modified home shopping program list to the server for storage.  
       [0022] A disclosed system includes a memory for storing personalized data, home shopping program lists, and home shopping programs, and a processor in communication with the memory. The processor is operative to receive personalized data from the viewer, generate a home shopping program list that identifies a plurality of home shopping programs related to the personalized data, and transmit a home shopping program identified in the home shopping program list to the viewer. These and other embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in greater detail herein below. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0023] The invention and its advantages will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the detailed description provided herein below when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
     [0024]FIG. 1 is a high level block diagram view of an embodiment of a system for the present invention;  
     [0025]FIG. 2 is a technical block diagram view of an embodiment of a system for the present invention;  
     [0026]FIGS. 3 a ,  3   b , and  3   c  are screenshots of what a viewer sees in an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0027]FIGS. 4 a ,  4   b ,  4   c , and  4   d  are screenshots of what a viewer sees in an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0028]FIGS. 5 a ,  5   b ,  5   c , and  5   d  are screenshots of what a viewer sees in an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0029]FIG. 6 is a high level flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0030]FIG. 7 is a detailed flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention; and  
     [0031]FIG. 8 is a block diagram view of a general purpose computer that may be used to implement an embodiment of the method and system of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION  
     [0032]FIG. 1 shows a high level block diagram of a home shopping program system  100 . A viewer  135  watches and interacts with a home shopping program display means  130 . The home shopping program display means  130  is any display means capable of displaying home shopping programs to the viewer  135 . Examples of the home shopping program display means  130  include a projection television, plasma screen television, or computer monitor. The home shopping program display means  130  communicates with an intelligent system  125  and a home shopping program providing server  120  via a data network  115 . This embodiment of the home shopping program system  100  follows a conventional client  110 /server  105  model.  
     [0033]FIG. 2 is a technical block diagram view of an embodiment of a home shopping program system  200 . FIG. 2 demonstrates the generation of a customized home shopping program list  226 . First, a viewer  240  provides personalized data  241  to a client device  235 . The client  235  transfers the personalized data  241  to a server  225  over a data network  230 . The server  225  stores the personalized data on a personalized data database  220 . Based on the personalized data  241  information and information about the available home shopping program media  210 , the server  225  is able to generate the customized home shopping program list  226 . The customized home shopping program list  226  is sent to the client  235  over the data network  230 . The client  235 , based on the customized home shopping program list  226 , displays home shopping programs to the viewer  240 .  
     [0034] The home shopping program system  200  does not require the provisioning of personalized data  241  from the client  235  to the server  225  if the personalized data  241  is already stored in the personalized data database  220 . Consequentially, the viewer  240  is not required to provide personalized data  241  unless a change to the personalized data  241  is requested by the viewer  240 .  
     [0035]FIG. 3 a  is an exemplary screenshot used by a viewer  240  to provide personalized data  241  to a client  235 . The screenshot allows the viewer  240  to specify information about him or herself. The viewer  240  may specify, for example, his/her gender  305 , interest in sports  315 , and age  310 . In the exemplary screenshot the viewer  240  has specified that he is a male, between the age of twenty four and thirty, and has an interest in soccer, basketball, and golf. The information collected on this screenshot will be used as personalized data  241 . The personalized data  241  is sent to the server  225  from the client  235 . The server  225  generates a customized home shopping program list  226 , and sends the customized home shopping program list  226  to the client  235 .  
     [0036]FIG. 3 b  is an exemplary screenshot of a home shopping program being displayed to the viewer  240 . In this example, the viewer sees a home shopping program for “Nika Basketball Shoes.” The video  320  of the home shopping program runs as a motion picture in a frame. In addition to the video  320 , information  325  about the product is displayed in another frame, along with the quantity remaining  335 , price  340 , and instructions on ordering  345 . A “Next” button  350  is available to the viewer  240  enabling him/her to skip the current home shopping program and begin the next home shopping program.  
     [0037]FIG. 3 c  is an exemplary screenshot of the customized home shopping program list  226  as presented to the viewer  240 . The viewer  240  is given the ability to make modifications to his/her customized home shopping program list  360 . The viewer may scroll through the customized home shopping program list  360  via the scroll up  385  and scroll down  390  buttons. The viewer may insert a new home shopping program above the currently selected home shopping program in the home shopping program list  360  by selecting the “ADD” button  365 . The viewer may remove a particular home shopping program by selecting a home shopping program from the home shopping program list  360  and selecting the “REMOVE” button  370 . In addition, the viewer may rearrange the home shopping program list  360  by moving the selected home shopping program up and down via the “MOVE UP”  375  and “MOVE DOWN”  380  buttons.  
     [0038] When the client  235  receives a customized home shopping program list  226  from the server  225 , the client  235  may first display to a viewer a home shopping program that is listed in the customized home shopping program list  226 . Thereafter, the viewer may activate the “next” button to begin viewing the next available home shopping program (e.g., the home shopping program next listed in the customized home shopping program list  226 .) Thus, a viewer  240  need not view the customized home shopping program list  226  generated for him/her, but instead can view one home shopping program after another. Alternatively, the client  235  may initially display the customized home shopping program list  226  so that the viewer can select the home shopping program he/she desires to display. A function button may be provided to enable the viewer to return from home shopping programs to the customized home shopping program list  226  at any time.  
     [0039]FIGS. 4 a ,  4   b ,  4   c , and  4   d  show another embodiment of the screenshots presented to the viewer  240  by the client  235 . In FIGS. 4 a  and  4   b , personalized data  241  is collected from the viewer  240 . In FIG. 4 a , the viewer  240  is prompted to specify the occasion for which the viewer  240  is shopping. Examples of occasions for shopping include browsing for a birthday gift, browsing for an anniversary gift, and looking for a wedding gift. If the viewer  240  selects to browse for a birthday gift, more information is collected from the viewer  240 , as shown in FIG. 4 b . The viewer  240  may then provide information related to the birthday gift.  
     [0040] In FIG. 4 b , the viewer  240  has specified that the birthday gift is for a male  410  and between the age of ten and eighteen  420 . In addition, the viewer  240  has specified the type of gift he/she wishes to purchase for this birthday gift. The viewer  240  has specified that he/she would like to purchase a gift of the types “Sporting Equipment” or “Electronics”  415 . The viewer  240  has also provided a price range for the gift by specifying a price range of over ten dollars  425 .  
     [0041] The information collected from FIGS. 4 a  and  4   b  become personalized data  241  for the viewer  240 . The personalized data  241  is sent to the server  225  by the client  235 . The server  225  generates a customized home shopping program list  226  based on the personalized data  241  and home shopping program media  210 . The customized home shopping program list  226  is sent to the client  235  over the data network  230 . The client  235  may immediately begin displaying the first home shopping program in the customized home shopping program list  226 , as demonstrated in FIG. 4 c . The viewer  240  may view his/her customized home shopping program list  226 . The viewing of the customized home shopping program list  226  is shown in FIG. 4 d . Modifications to the customized home shopping program list  465  may be made by the viewer  240  using buttons  470 ,  472 ,  475 ,  480 ,  485 , and  490  in a manner similar to that described above with respect to the use of the buttons illustrated in FIG. 3C.  
     [0042]FIGS. 5 a ,  5   b ,  5   c , and  5   d  show another embodiment of the home shopping program system. The viewer  240  chooses the desired occasion in FIG. 5 a . In this example, the viewer  240  chooses the occasion of browsing for a wedding gift. In this case, the wedding couple needs to be registered with the system. Prior to the viewer  240  browsing for a wedding gift, the wedding couple would have registered themselves with the system and specified their wedding registry of gifts.  
     [0043] In FIG. 5 b , the viewer  240  searches for the wedding couple by entering the last names of the bride and groom. The client  235  displays a list of matching wedding couples. The viewer  240  selects the correct wedding couple. Based on the personalized data  241  provided by the viewer in FIGS. 5 a  and  5   b , and the gifts previously registered by the wedding couple, the server  225  generates a customized home shopping program list  226 . The customized home shopping program list  226  is transferred from the server  225  to the client  235  over the data network  230 . The client  235  displays the first home shopping program to the viewer  240 , as demonstrated in FIG. 5 c . The viewer  240  may view his/her customized home shopping program list  226 . The viewing of the customized home shopping program list  226  is shown in FIG. 5 d . Modifications to the customized home shopping program list  550  may be made by the viewer  240  using buttons  555 ,  560 ,  565 ,  570 ,  575 , and  580  in a manner similar to that described above with respect to the use of the buttons illustrated in FIG. 3C.  
     [0044]FIG. 6 shows a method for delivering customized home shopping programs to a viewer. The exemplary home shopping program system described herein above may be used to practice this method. In step  600 , the viewer provides personalized data to the system. The personalized data is any data provided by the viewer that will be used by the system to determine a customized home shopping program list for the viewer. The personalized data may be provided once and stored within the system to prevent the viewer from having to provide the same personalized data each time the viewer uses the system. In step  605 , a customized home shopping program list is generated for the viewer based on the personalized data provided by the viewer. In step  610 , the customized home shopping program list is used to provide the viewer with personalized home shopping programs for viewing.  
     [0045]FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment showing how a viewer would interact with the home shopping program system. At step  700 , the viewer starts (e.g., logs onto the system, opens an appropriate menu of the system) the home shopping program system. At step  705 , the system determines if the viewer already has personalized data stored on the system. If not, the viewer is prompted to provide the system with personalized data at step  710 . If the system does have personalized data for the viewer, the viewer is given the option to add or change the personalized data at step  713 . At step  715 , the personalized data is passed to an intelligent system. Based on the personalized data, the intelligent system generates a customized home shopping program list that is sent to the client at step  720 .  
     [0046] At step  725 , the client retrieves the home shopping programs based on the customized home shopping program list provided by the intelligent system. The viewer watches one or more home shopping programs displayed by the client at step  730 .  
     [0047] If the viewer chooses to modify the home shopping program list at step  735 , the viewer can do so at step  740 . Once the home shopping program list is modified, the viewer can begin viewing the altered home shopping program list at step  730 . If the viewer chooses to modify the personalized data at step  745 , the viewer may do so at step  750 . Once the personalized data is modified, the personalized data is sent to the intelligent system at step  715  so that a newly customized home shopping program list is generated based on the new personalized data.  
     [0048]FIG. 8 shows a general purpose computer system  800  constructed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The computer system  800  may function as a server and/or as a client as described herein above. The computer system  800  includes a processor  830  and memory  825 . Processor  830  may contain a single microprocessor, or may contain a plurality of microprocessors for configuring the computer system  800  as a multi-processor system. In embodiments described above, the processor  830  includes the server processor and client processor of FIG. 2. Memory  825 , stores, in part, instructions and data for execution by processor  830 . If the system of the present invention is wholly or partially implemented in software, including computer instructions, memory  825  stores the executable code when the system is in operation. Memory  825  may include banks of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) as well as high speed cache memory.  
     [0049] Computer system  800  further includes a mass storage device  835 , peripheral device(s)  840 , output device  845 , audio device  850 , input device  855 , portable storage medium drive  860 , graphics subsystem  870 , and a display means  885 . For purposes of simplicity, the components shown in FIG. 8 are depicted as being connected via a single bus  880  (i.e. transmitting means). However, the components may be connected through one or more data transport means (e.g., Internet, Intranet, etc.) For example, processor  830  and memory  825  may be connected via a local microprocessor bus, and mass storage device  835 , peripheral device(s)  840 , portable storage medium drive  860 , and graphics subsystem  870  may be connected via one or more input/output (I/O) buses.  
     [0050] Mass storage device  835 , which is typically implemented with magnetic or optical disk drives is, in one embodiment, a non-volatile storage device for storing data and instructions for use by processor  830 . Mass storage device  835  includes the storage medium of embodiments of the present invention, and the server storage medium and client storage medium in alternative embodiments. In another embodiment of the present invention, mass storage device  835  stores the algorithms of the server. The computer instructions that implement the method of the present invention also may be stored in processor  830 .  
     [0051] Portable storage medium drive  860  operates in conjunction with a portable non-volatile storage medium, such as a floppy disk or other computer-readable medium, to input and output data and code to and from the computer system  800 . In one embodiment, the method of the present invention that is implemented using computer instructions is stored on such a portable medium, and is input to the computer system  800  via the portable storage medium drive  860 .  
     [0052] Peripheral device(s)  840  may include any type of computer support device such as an input/output (I/O) interface to add additional functionality to the computer system  800 . For example, peripheral device(s)  840  may include a network interface card for interfacing computer system  800  to a network, a modem, and the like.  
     [0053] Input device  855  provides a portion of a user interface. Input device  855  may include an alpha-numeric keypad for inputting alpha-numeric and other key information, or a pointing device, such as a mouse, a trackball, stylus or cursor direction keys. In order to display textual and graphical information, the computer system  800  includes graphics subsystem  870  and display means  885 . Display means  885  may include a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, liquid crystal display (LCD), or any other suitable display device known in the art for enabling a viewer to view the customized program.  
     [0054] Graphics subsystem  870  receives textual and graphical information and processes the information for output to display means  885 . Display means  885  provides a practical application for providing the customized program of the present invention since the method of the present invention may be directly and practically implemented through the use of the display means  885 . Suitable output devices  845  include speakers, printers, and the like.  
     [0055] The devices contained in the computer system  800  of FIG. 8 are those typically found in general purpose computers, and are intended to represent a broad category of such computer components that are well known in the art. Computer system  800  illustrates one platform which can be used for practically implementing the method or system of the present invention. Numerous other platforms can also suffice, such as Macintosh-based platforms available from Apple Computer, Inc. (Cupertino, Calif.), platforms with different bus configurations, networked platforms, multi-processor platforms, other personal computers, workstations, mainframes, navigation systems, and the like.  
     [0056] In a further embodiment, the present invention also includes a computer program product that is a computer readable medium (media) having computer instructions stored thereon that can be used to program a computer to perform the methods of the present invention. The storage medium may include, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, DVD, CD ROMs, magnetic optical disks, RAMs, EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions.  
     [0057] These same computer instructions may be located in an electronic signal that is transmitted over a data network that performs the methods of the present invention when loaded into a computer. The computer instructions are in the form of data being transmitted over a data network. In one embodiment, the methods of the present invention are implemented in computer instructions and those computer instructions are transmitted in an electronic signal through cable, satellite or other transmitting systems for transmitting the computer instructions in the electronic signals.  
     [0058] Stored on any one of the computer readable medium (media), the present invention includes software for controlling both the hardware of the general purpose/specialized computer or microprocessor, and for enabling the computer or microprocessor to interact with a human user or other mechanism utilizing the results of the present invention. Such software may include, but is not limited to, device drivers, operating systems and user applications. Ultimately, such computer readable media further includes software for performing the methods of the present invention as described above.  
     [0059] There are several advantages to the embodiments discussed above. The overall advantage is that viewers can now use this home shopping program system for nearly all of their shopping needs. This home shopping program system is substantially more efficient than the forms of home shopping program distribution systems currently available today. Viewers can shop much more efficiently by seeing products they&#39;re more likely to be interested in. With the new efficiencies and convenience introduced by the current invention, viewers will be inclined to shop more frequently through home shopping programs. As a further advantage, sellers will realize higher sales from the increase in usage and purchases.  
     [0060] Unlike anything found in the prior art, the current invention gives each viewer the opportunity to provide input (e.g., personalized data). By giving the viewer the ability to provide such input, the current invention is able to customize a list of home shopping programs for the particular viewer. Generating and delivering a customized list of home shopping programs provides significant advantages over the prior art.  
     [0061] With the current invention, viewers are also empowered to modify their customized list of home shopping programs. Thus, viewers can now watch only those home shopping programs that they desire to watch. Further, viewers may now choose what home shopping program they want to watch and when they want to watch it. The ability for the viewer to control the list of home shopping programs holds a tremendous advantage over the prior art. In the prior art, viewers had no control over which home shopping program they could watch, and were at the mercy of the broadcasting schedule for home shopping programs. Viewers&#39; only option was to either not watch the current home shopping program or wait to see what the next home shopping program would be. With the current invention, viewers no longer have this dilemma.  
     [0062] Although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to certain embodiments and examples, variations and modifications exist or can be foreseen that are within the scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims.