Patent ID: 12229907

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Accordingly, systems and methods are provided for displaying supplemental content for print media using augmented reality. In particular, systems and methods are provided for intelligently positioning augmented reality content related to print media over portions of the print media that are not of interest to the user. For example, a user may browse a physical copy of print media, such as a newspaper, while using an augmented reality device, such as augmented reality goggles. The system may identify different sections of a page the user is currently reading. For example, the system may identify different articles, one pertaining to sports and another to politics. The system may determine which sections contain content that is of interest to the user and which sections do not. For example, the system may determine the user likes the sports section but not the politics section of the page. The system may identify and retrieve content related to the sports column, which the user is interested in, such as video highlights and pictures of the sport featured in the column. The system may then present the content related to the sports column over the politics section in the augmented reality device so that none of the sections of interest to the user (e.g., the sports column content) is blocked from view.

The amount of content available to users in any given content delivery system can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form of media guidance through an interface that allows users to efficiently navigate content selections and easily identify content that they may desire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to herein as an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a media guidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms depending on the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type of media guidance application is an interactive television program guide. Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to as electronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that, among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many types of content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications may generate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigate among, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms “media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean an electronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadable content, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information, pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles, books, electronic books, blogs, chat sessions, social media, applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/or combination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users to navigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term “multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at least two different content forms described above, for example, text, audio, images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded, played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also be part of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performing any of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computer readable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable of storing data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including, but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals, or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk, floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processor caches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

FIG.1shows an exemplary print media100in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Print media100may include any physical document that contains media or information. For example, print media100may include a newspaper, magazine, comic book, books, text books, articles, journals, etc. Print media100may include multiple sections, each with a different article or column. A page of print media100may include any number of different portions, segments, articles or snippets each pertaining to the same or a different topic, category or subject matter. For example, print media100includes a first portion110and second portion120. First portion110may include an article or snippet about the weather and second portion120may include an article or snippet about politics.

In some embodiments, a media guidance application (implemented at least partially on an augmented reality device) may detect that the user is currently reading or viewing print media100. In response, the media guidance application may determine a user profile for a user of the augmented reality device. For example, the media guidance application may listen to the user's voice, capture a fingerprint or retina scan, determine a size of the user's head, or request a user's login information to determine who the user is that is using the augmented reality device. The media guidance application may obtain any combination of these unique user inputs and search a database to determine an identity of the user. For example, the media guidance application may search a voice recognition database for a voice signature that matches a snippet of the user's voice. Once the voice signature is found, a user identity associated with the voice signature may be retrieved.

After confirming or obtaining the user's identity, the media guidance application may search an online or local database for a profile associated with the user. For example, the media guidance application may transmit a query to a profile database with the user's name or other form of identity to retrieve a profile associated with that identity. The profile may specify one or more attributes that are of interest and that are not of interest to the user. For example, the user profile may specify that the user likes to consume content about weather and sports but not about politics. The attributes may also specify levels of interest in each or some of the attributes. In some implementations, the profile may be dynamically updated automatically by the media guidance application to reflect current user interests and/or may be manually populated by the user. In some circumstances, the media guidance application may present a series of questions to the user and, based on responses, the media guidance application may generate a profile for the user. In some circumstances, the media guidance application may present a list of attributes and receive user input specifying a level of like or dislike for each attribute.

The media guidance application may process an area of print media100to identify first and second portions110and120of print media100within the area. For example, the media guidance application may capture an image of a page that the user is currently reading of the newspaper to identify different articles in the page. In some implementations, the media guidance application may send the captured image to a local or remote image processing engine. The image processing engine may be a dedicated hardware device for performing image processing or may be a general purpose processor (GPU) programmed to execute an image processing algorithm. The image processing engine may analyze the image to detect an object130separating a first collection of text from a second collection of text. For example, the image processing engine may identify where text is on the newspaper page that is completely or partially bordered by horizontal or vertical bars or lines. Each area of text that is bordered partially or completely by the bars or lines may be defined as a different collection of text. The image processing engine may determine whether the first and second collections of text include respective headings122. For example, the image processing engine may analyze the fonts in each collection of text to determine whether there are different sized fonts. In response to detecting that a given collection of text has a majority of text in a font of a threshold size that is less than a font size of other text in the same collection, the image processing engine may associate the given collection of text with one article in the page. Particularly, the image processing engine may label or store an indication that the given collection pertains to the same article in the page. Similarly, in response to detecting that the second collection of text has a majority of text in a font of a threshold size that is less than a font size of other text in the second collection, the image processing engine may associate the second collection of text with a second article in the page. Particularly, the image processing engine may label or store an indication that the second collection pertains to the second article in the page.

For example, an image of print media100may be captured and sent to a local or remote image processing engine. The image processing engine may identify a collection of text124that is the same size. The image processing engine may determine a size of text124and compare that size to a size of heading122. In response to determining that the size of text124is more than a threshold amount (more than 50 percent) smaller than the size of text124and that text124is immediately adjacent (e.g., under or to the side of) heading122, the image processing engine may determine that text124includes content that is associated with heading122. In addition, the image processing engine may identify objects130and132as objects that are adjacent to and border a region that includes heading122and text124. In response to identifying objects130and132, the image processing engine may determine that the content bordered by these objects corresponds to a same article (e.g., the article having a heading “University brings $26,000 bill”). The image processing engine may compute a size of every text font that appears in the image of print media100. The image processing engine may compare the sizes of every text font and may determine a largest size of the text font. The image processing engine may determine that the text with the largest font size is a title of print media100. The image processing engine may similarly process other regions of the image of print media100to identify second portion110and other portions. For example, the image processing engine may determine that the word “WEATHER” is in a larger font size than the word “MONDAY” that is adjacent to the word “WEATHER” in a section of the image of print media100. Also, a border140is adjacent to both of the words. Accordingly, image processing engine may determine that the content adjacent to border140including the words “WEATHER” and “MONDAY” corresponds to the same article about weather.

In some cases, the image processing engine may also detect an electronic reference object112(e.g., a QR code) in a portion of print media100. For example, the image processing engine may detect object112in second portion110and may associate that reference with that portion for subsequent retrieval of supplemental information.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate a first set of keywords associated with the first portion and a second set of keywords associated with the second portion. For example, the media guidance application may search text in the first article and text in the second article of the newspaper page to select nouns, verbs and predetermined words. For example, the media guidance application may select the words weather, rain, and palm beach from portion110and the words university, trump, and politics from second portion120.

The media guidance application may store the selected nouns, verbs and predetermined words that appear in the text of the first article as a first set of keywords that identify the first article. The media guidance application may search an online or local database using some or all of the selected words to identify and retrieve related words to add to the first set of keywords. The media guidance application may perform a similar analysis and word selection for each other article on the page to generate second, third and fourth sets of keywords. The media guidance application may generate characteristics that represent each of the sets of keywords and may compare the characteristics to the attributes stored in the user profile. For example, the media guidance application may generate a characteristic of weather for first portion110and a characteristic of politics for second portion120.

The media guidance application may determine, based on comparing the keywords and/or their characteristics to the user profile, that the first portion of the print media matches the user profile and the second portion of the print media does not match the user profile. For example, the media guidance application may generate a characterization of the first article (the first portion) that identifies the first article as being related to sports, and the media guidance application may generate a characterization of the second article (the second portion) that identifies the second article as being related to politics. The media guidance application may compare the characterizations to the user profile to determine that, because the user profile specifies the user likes sports but not politics, the first article matches the user profile and the second article does not.

The media guidance application may search a database based on the first set of keywords to obtain supplemental content related to the first portion of the print media. For example, the media guidance application may select the sports article of the newspaper that matches the user profile for searching for supplemental content or content related to the selected article. The media guidance application may search one or more websites, social networks, or remote databases for content having metadata that matches a threshold number of the first set of keywords of the sports article. For example, if the sports article is about the New York Knicks v. Chicago Bulls game, the media guidance application may search a sports source (e.g., ESPN) for updated standings, photographs, and videos related to the game and/or may search a social network associated with the user for posts or comments about the game submitted by other users. Any matching content may be selected as the supplemental content related to the article. The media guidance application may search metadata of media generated by the user (e.g., a user's photographs stored on the user's mobile phone) to identify metadata that relates to the game. For example, the media guidance application may identify a time period associated with the game and a location and may determine whether any photographs stored on the user's phone are associated with metadata that matches the time period and location of the game. In particular, the user may have attended the game and taken pictures of the game. Each picture may be geo-tagged using GPS with the game's location and may be associated with a date and time of the game. As a result, the pictures may match the game's time period and location and may be selected as being related to the game for use as the supplemental content.

There are many different ways for the media guidance application to identify supplemental content. In some implementations, the media guidance application may determine that a keyword of the first set of keywords relates to a geographical area. For example, the media guidance application may determine that the sports article about the New York Knicks v. Chicago Bulls game relates to the Chicago area because the title of the game indicates that the New York Knicks were playing or visiting the Chicago Bulls, who are located in the Chicago area. The media guidance application may access a database of a collection of media assets generated by the user. For example, the media guidance application may access a remote storage (e.g., iCloud drive) of the user to identify a set of pictures and videos the user has taken in the past. The media guidance application may retrieve metadata associated with the collection of media assets. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve GPS information for each media asset in the collection. The media guidance application may identify a given media asset associated with metadata that matches the geographical location by determining that the GPS information corresponds to a location that is within a threshold range of the Chicago area. In response to identifying that the given media asset corresponds to the geographical area of the first set of keywords, the media guidance application may select that given media asset as the supplemental content for the article about New York Knicks v. Chicago Bulls game.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may identify a plurality of media assets associated with the geographical area of the sports article. Some of the media assets may be generated by the user (e.g., stored on the remote or local storage of the user) and some may be generated by other users or other content sources. The media guidance application may add the plurality of media assets and the given media asset to a playlist and may provide the playlist as the supplemental content. The playlist may represent an ordered list of media assets that are presented simultaneously or in a given sequence to a user automatically.

In some embodiments, the first and second portions of the print media may be in a first page of the print media. In such circumstances, the media guidance application may access from a database a list of content in the print media. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve from a database a list of all of the articles that are in the print media and their respective page numbers or locations. The media guidance application may perform this operation by retrieving a name of the print media (a name of the newspaper) and date and search a database using these terms for retrieving the list of content in the print media. The media guidance application may identify from the list of content other content that is related to the first set of keywords. For example, the media guidance application may identify another article that is in the print media that relates to the article about the New York Knicks v. Chicago Bulls game. The media guidance application may determine that the other content is located in a second page of the print media. For example, the media guidance application may determine that the another article is on page 6 while the user is currently viewing page 2 of the print media. The media guidance application may provide as the supplemental content the other content and a reference to the second page of the print media (e.g., page 6). For example, the media guidance application may retrieve some or all of the portions of the related article from page 6 for presentation together with the article about the New York Knicks v. Chicago Bulls game that is on page 2. The media guidance application may present an indication that the related article came from page 6 of the print media.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may replace a portion of the article that is of interest to the user based on a current location of the user. For example, if the user is browsing a newspaper from Palm Beach County in New York, the media guidance application may replace geographically specific information about Palm Beach County with information about New York. For example, the media guidance application may determine the user is interested in the weather section of the newspaper. But the media guidance application may determine that the user is currently in New York and that the weather section pertains to Palm Beach County. In such circumstances, the media guidance application may replace the weather information presented about Palm Beach County with weather information local to the user in New York. In particular, the media guidance application may determine that the print media is associated with a first geographical location. For example, the media guidance application may identify a title of the print media and determine based on words in the title (e.g., Palm Beach Post) that the print media relates to a first geographical location (e.g., Palm Beach). The media guidance application may determine that the first set of keywords associated with the first portion are associated with the first geographical location. For example, the media guidance application may detect weather information in the first article about weather that is related to the location Palm Beach. The media guidance application may detect that the user is currently in a second geographical location. For example, the media guidance application may obtain GPS information from the augmented reality device the user is using and determine that the location (e.g., New York) corresponding to the obtained GPS information does not match the location associated with the first set of keywords (e.g., Palm Beach). The media guidance application may identify subject matter related to the first set of keywords. For example, the media guidance application may identify that the first set of keywords include weather information. In response, the media guidance application may retrieve content associated with the subject matter and the second geographical location. For example, the media guidance application may search a weather database for weather information corresponding to the user's location (e.g., New York). The media guidance application may generate for display using the augmented reality device the retrieved content in the first portion replacing at least a portion of information in the first portion. For example, the media guidance application may replace the temperature information specified in the first portion of the print media relating to the Palm Beach location with temperature information local to the user (e.g., New York temperature).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may provide the user with a magnified version of content in the print media the user is reading using the augmented reality device. In such circumstances, the magnified version may be positioned at a current reading location in the first portion which may obscure some content that is in the first portion or may be presented in the second portion that is not of interest to the user. In particular, the media guidance application may detect a digit of the user positioned over the first portion. For example, the media guidance application may detect the user's finger is pointing to a word or section in the first portion. In response, the media guidance application may enhance the region pointed at by the user's finger by magnifying the content in that portion. The media guidance application may capture an image within an area of where the user is pointing their finger and locally digitally magnify the content in the image. Alternatively, the media guidance application may retrieve from a remote database a magnified version of the entire portion the user is pointing their finger at and present the retrieved magnified version alongside or on top of the portion over which the user's finger is positioned.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may identify symbols in a given portion of the print media that reference a specific remote database or website from which to retrieve supplemental content. In such circumstances, in addition to or alternative to retrieving supplemental content based on keywords and/or geographical location, the media guidance application may process the symbol and retrieve content specifically referenced by the symbol. For example, the media guidance application may detect a QR code in the first portion of the print media. The media guidance application may capture an image of the QR code and obtain supplemental content from a server based on information obtained from the QR code. For example, the QR code may reference a particular website and in such cases, the media guidance application may access the website referenced by the QR code and obtain an image of the website as the supplemental content for display in augmented reality over another portion of the print media.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may position a display of the supplemental content using the augmented reality device over the second portion of the print media.FIG.2shows an exemplary print media200enhanced using augmented reality in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Specifically, a user may wear or use an augmented reality device230to view print media200. Print media200may be the same as print media100but is shown from the view of augmented reality device230. In particular, print media200represents how print media100is modified using augmented reality via device230.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine that portion120(FIG.1) includes content that does not match a user profile and that portion110includes content that matches the user profile. When print media100is viewed through augmented reality device230, the media guidance application replaces content shown in portion120with supplemental content220related to portion110.

For example, the media guidance application may present some or all of the identified supplemental content over the politics article portion120of the newspaper page the user is reading using the augmented reality device. As the user is reading the newspaper page and viewing the page through the augmented reality device, portions of the page that are not of interest to the user (e.g., politics) are replaced and appear to have content related to portions that are of interest to the user (e.g., sports). In particular, as the user is reading an article about the New York Knicks v. Chicago Bulls game in the newspaper page, the media guidance application may replace a politics article in the page with pictures, comments, videos or other related content pertaining to the New York Knicks v. Chicago Bulls game.

In some implementations, the media guidance application replaces portions of portion110that relate to a geographic location that is not the current geographic location of the user with content210specific to the user's current geographic location. For example, portion110may be determined to relate to weather specific to Palm Beach (e.g., rain with a high of 77 and a low of 65). The media guidance application may determine that device230is currently in a New York region based on GPS information of device230. Accordingly, the media guidance application may replace the weather information in portion110with local weather information. Specifically, the media guidance application may access a weather database and retrieve weather specific to the user's current GPS location as determined from device230. The media guidance application may present local information (e.g., snow with a high of 27 and low of 15) in place of the weather information associated with the printed media. Accordingly, the media guidance application dynamically updates, using augmented reality, static portions of the printed media with information local to the user.

In some implementations, the media guidance application may automatically obtain the supplemental content in response to determining that a gaze of the user through the augmented reality device is focused on the first portion. For example, the media guidance application may use a camera to analyze a position of the user's eyes relative to the print media. In response to detecting that the user's eyes are positioned over the first portion, the media guidance application may automatically retrieve and present the supplemental content.

FIGS.3-4show illustrative display screens that may be used to provide media guidance data. The display screens shown inFIGS.3-4may be implemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While the displays ofFIGS.3-4are illustrated as full screen displays, they may also be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A user may indicate a desire to access content information by selecting a selectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user input interface or device. In response to the user's indication, the media guidance application may provide a display screen with media guidance data organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in a grid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category (e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories of programming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organization criteria.

FIG.3shows illustrative grid of a program listings display300arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different types of content in a single display. Display300may include grid302with: (1) a column of channel/content type identifiers304, 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 identifiers306, where each time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid302also includes cells of program listings, such as program listing308, 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 region310. Information relating to the program listing selected by highlight region310may be provided in program information region312. Region312may 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.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., content that is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipment devices at a predetermined time and is provided according to a schedule), the media guidance application also provides access to non-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipment device at any time and is not provided according to a schedule). Non-linear programming may include content from different content sources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content (e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above or other storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demand content may include movies or any other content provided by a particular content provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time Warner Company L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM are trademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content may include web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or content available on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content through an Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid302may provide media guidance data for non-linear programming including on-demand listing314, recorded content listing316, and Internet content listing318. 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 display300may 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, listings314,316, and318are shown as spanning the entire time block displayed in grid302to 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 grid302. Additional media guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selecting one of the navigational icons320. (Pressing an arrow key on a user input device may affect the display in a similar manner as selecting navigational icons320.)

Display300may also include video region322, and options region326. Video region322may 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 region322may correspond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed in grid302. 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 region326may allow the user to access different types of content, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidance application features. Options region326may be part of display300(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 region326may concern features related to program listings in grid302or 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.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user's preferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user to customize displays and features to create a personalized “experience” with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may be created by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by the media guidance application monitoring user activity to determine various user preferences. Users may access their personalized guidance application by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to the guidance application. Customization of the media guidance application may be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations may include varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays, font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g., only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channels based on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display of channels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g., recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality, etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internet content (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail, electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desired customizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profile information or may automatically compile user profile information. The media guidance application may, for example, monitor the content the user accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with the guidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application may obtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to a particular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the user accesses, such as www.Tivo.com, from other media guidance applications the user accesses, from other interactive applications the user accesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.), and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that the media guidance application may access. As a result, a user can be provided with a unified guidance application experience across the user's different user equipment devices. This type of user experience is described in greater detail below in connection withFIG.6. Additional personalized media guidance application features are described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG.4. Video mosaic display400includes selectable options402for content information organized based on content type, genre, and/or other organization criteria. In display400, television listings option404is selected, thus providing listings406,408,410, and412as broadcast program listings. In display400the 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, listing408may include more than one portion, including media portion414and text portion416. Media portion414and/or text portion416may be selectable to view content in full-screen or to view information related to the content displayed in media portion414(e.g., to view listings for the channel that the video is displayed on).

The listings in display400are of different sizes (i.e., listing406is larger than listings408,410, and412), 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.5shows a generalized embodiment of illustrative user equipment device500. More specific implementations of user equipment devices are discussed below in connection withFIG.6. User equipment device500may receive content and data via input/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path502. I/O path502may 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 circuitry504, which includes processing circuitry506and storage508. Control circuitry504may be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable data using I/O path502. I/O path502may connect control circuitry504(and specifically processing circuitry506) 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.5to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry504may be based on any suitable processing circuitry such as processing circuitry506. As referred to herein, processing circuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may include a multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or any suitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments, processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separate processors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same type of processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multiple different processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Core i7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry504executes instructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e., storage508). Specifically, control circuitry504may be instructed by the media guidance application to perform the functions discussed above and below. For example, the media guidance application may provide instructions to control circuitry504to generate the media guidance displays. In some implementations, any action performed by control circuitry504may be based on instructions received from the media guidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry504may include communications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidance application server or other networks or servers. The instructions for carrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on the guidance application server. Communications circuitry may include a cable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card, or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or any other suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involve the Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths (which is described in more detail in connection withFIG.6). In addition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enables peer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communication of user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (described in more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage508that is part of control circuitry504. As referred to herein, the phrase “electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood to mean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, or firmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives, optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD) recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders, digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal video recorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gaming consoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storage devices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage508may be used to store various types of content described herein as well as media guidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-based storage, described in relation toFIG.6, may be used to supplement storage508or instead of storage508.

Control circuitry504may include video generating circuitry and tuning circuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2 decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, or any other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of such circuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog, or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided. Control circuitry504may also include scaler circuitry for upconverting and downconverting content into the preferred output format of the user equipment500. Circuitry504may also include digital-to-analog converter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry for converting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encoding circuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and to display, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encoding circuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitry described herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digital circuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or more general purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording, etc.). If storage508is provided as a separate device from user equipment500, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multiple tuners) may be associated with storage508.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry504using user input interface510. User input interface510may 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. Display512may be provided as a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of user equipment device500. For example, display512may be a touchscreen or touch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface510may be integrated with or combined with display512. Display512may 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, display512may be HDTV-capable. In some embodiments, display512may 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 display512. 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 circuitry504. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry504. Speakers514may be provided as integrated with other elements of user equipment device500or may be stand-alone units. The audio component of videos and other content displayed on display512may be played through speakers514. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers514.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitable architecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application wholly-implemented on user equipment device500. In such an approach, instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage508), 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 circuitry504may retrieve instructions of the application from storage508and process the instructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based on the processed instructions, control circuitry504may determine what action to perform when input is received from input interface510. For example, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated by the processed instructions when input interface510indicates that an up/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-server based application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented on user equipment device500is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to the user equipment device500. In one example of a client-server based guidance application, control circuitry504runs a web browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. For example, the remote server may store the instructions for the application in a storage device. The remote server may process the stored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry504) and generate the displays discussed above and below. The client device may receive the displays generated by the remote server and may display the content of the displays locally on equipment device500. This way, the processing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server while the resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device500. Equipment device500may receive inputs from the user via input interface510and transmit those inputs to the remote server for processing and generating the corresponding displays. For example, equipment device500may transmit a communication to the remote server indicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface510. The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that input and generate a display of the application corresponding to the input (e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display is then transmitted to equipment device500for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded and interpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (run by control circuitry504). In some embodiments, the guidance application may be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received by control circuitry504as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by a user agent running on control circuitry504. For example, the guidance application may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, the guidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files that are received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitable middleware executed by control circuitry504. In some of such embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital media encoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encoded and transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio and video packets of a program.

User equipment device500ofFIG.5can be implemented in system600ofFIG.6as user television equipment602, user computer equipment604, wireless user communications device606, 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.5may not be classified solely as user television equipment602, user computer equipment604, or a wireless user communications device606. For example, user television equipment602may, like some user computer equipment604, be Internet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while user computer equipment604may, like some television equipment602, 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 equipment604, 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 devices606.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system features described above in connection withFIG.5may also be characterized as and embodied in an augmented reality device. Augmented reality devices may take various forms. For example, an augmented reality device may be a pair of goggles worn by a user. The goggles capture real world surroundings of the user that are within a field of view and supplement or augment those surroundings with digital material that can only be seen in a display of the goggles and not in the real world. The goggles may include a screen that digitally replicates what a user is looking at and enhances the real world surroundings with digital content. For example, a user may look through the goggles at a real world building and the goggles may add a name to the building so it appears to the user as if the name is on the building in real life but the name can only be seen through the goggles. Another implementation of augmented reality devices can be in a mobile phone with a screen. A user may hold the phone and position the phone over a real world object (e.g., a newspaper) and the screen of the phone shows the real world object and adds digital material that can only be seen on the screen of the phone. In particular, a camera of the phone captures the real world surroundings at which the phone is positioned over and the processor of the phone displays the real world surroundings in the screen of the phone and enhances those surroundings with digital content. For example, the phone may capture an image of a newspaper the user is reading and may replace one of the portions of the newspapers (e.g., an article that is not of interest to the user) with supplemental content that relates to another portion (e.g., an article that is of interest to the user).

In system600, there is typically more than one of each type of user equipment device but only one of each is shown inFIG.6to 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.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user television equipment602, user computer equipment604, wireless user communications device606) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example, a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first user equipment device. The content presented on the second screen device may be any suitable content that supplements the content presented on the first device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides an interface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the first device. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured for interacting with other second screen devices or for interacting with a social network. The second screen device can be located in the same room as the first device, a different room from the first device but in the same house or building, or in a different building from the first device.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent media guidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices. Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and program favorites, programming preferences that the guidance application utilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, and other desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channel as a favorite on, for example, the web site www.Tivo.com on their personal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as a favorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipment and user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, if desired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can change the guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless of whether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device. In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user, as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network614. Namely, user television equipment602, user computer equipment604, and wireless user communications device606are coupled to communications network614via communications paths608,610, and612, respectively. Communications network614may 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. Paths608,610, and612may 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. Path612is drawn with dotted lines to indicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown inFIG.6it is a wireless path and paths608and610are 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.6to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipment devices, these devices may communicate directly with each other via communication paths, such as those described above in connection with paths608,610, and612, as well as other short-range point-to-point communication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11×, etc.), or other short-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is a certification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipment devices may also communicate with each other directly through an indirect path via communications network614.

System600includes content source616and media guidance data source618coupled to communications network614via communication paths620and622, respectively. Paths620and622may include any of the communication paths described above in connection with paths608,610, and612. Communications with the content source616and media guidance data source618may be exchanged over one or more communications paths, but are shown as a single path inFIG.6to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of content source616and media guidance data source618, but only one of each is shown inFIG.6to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The different types of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, content source616and media guidance data source618may be integrated as one source device. Although communications between sources616and618with user equipment devices602,604, and606are shown as through communications network614, in some embodiments, sources616and618may communicate directly with user equipment devices602,604, and606via communication paths (not shown) such as those described above in connection with paths608,610, and612.

Content source616may include one or more types of content distribution equipment including a television distribution facility, cable system headend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g., television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediate distribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demand media servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned by the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by the American Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Content source616may be the originator of content (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) or may not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand content provider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs for downloading, etc.). Content source616may include cable sources, satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers, over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Content source616may also include a remote media server used to store different types of content (including video content selected by a user), in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems and methods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely stored content to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connection with Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source618may provide media guidance data, such as the media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may be provided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. In some embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-alone interactive television program guide that receives program guide data via a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Program schedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the user equipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digital signal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitable data transmission technique. Program schedule data and other media guidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog or digital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source618may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. For example, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from a server, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipment device. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing on the user's equipment may initiate sessions with source618to obtain guidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of date or when the user equipment device receives a request from the user to receive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment with any suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specified period of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to a request from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source618may provide user equipment devices602,604, and606the media guidance application itself or software updates for the media guidance application.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data. For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical user activity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches, what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interacts with a social network, at what times the user interacts with a social network to post information, what types of content the user typically watches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information, etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. For example, the subscription data may identify to which sources or services a given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the given user has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g., whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user has added a premium level of services, whether the user has increased Internet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or the subscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period of more than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., a survivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihood a given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, the media guidance application may process the viewer data with the subscription data using the model to generate a value or score that indicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate access to a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score may indicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminate access to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the media guidance application may generate promotions that entice the user to keep the particular service or source indicated by the score as one to which the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-alone applications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, the media guidance application may be implemented as software or a set of executable instructions which may be stored in storage508, and executed by control circuitry504of a user equipment device500. In some embodiments, media guidance applications may be client-server applications where only a client application resides on the user equipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. For example, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as a client application on control circuitry504of user equipment device500and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., media guidance data source618) running on control circuitry of the remote server. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such as media guidance data source618), the media guidance application may instruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance application displays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipment devices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry of the media guidance data source618to transmit data for storage on the user equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry of the receiving user equipment to generate the guidance application displays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices602,604, and606may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT content delivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any user equipment device described above, to receive content that is transferred over the Internet, including any content described above, in addition to content received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content is delivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP may not be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, or redistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets provided by the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers include YOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IP packets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is a trademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu, LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively provide media guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or media guidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidance applications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications), or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored on the user equipment device.

Media guidance system600is intended to illustrate a number of approaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devices and sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each other for the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. The embodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset of these approaches, or in a system employing other approaches for delivering content and providing media guidance. The following four approaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG.6.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each other within a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with each other directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemes described above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similar device provided on a home network, or via communications network614. Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate different user equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may be desirable for various media guidance information or settings to be communicated between the different user equipment devices. For example, it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidance application settings on different user equipment devices within a home network, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types of user equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with each other to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content from user computer equipment to a portable video player or portable music player.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment by which they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, some users may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobile devices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidance application implemented on a remote device. For example, users may access an online media guidance application on a website via a personal computer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA or web-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g., recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidance application to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guide may control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with a media guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Various systems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where the user equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, is discussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issued Oct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

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 source616to access content. Specifically, within a home, users of user television equipment602and user computer equipment604may 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 devices606to 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 network614. These cloud resources may include one or more content sources616and one or more media guidance data sources618. In addition or in the alternative, the remote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such as user television equipment602, user computer equipment604, and wireless user communications device606. 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.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, content sharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well as access to any content described above, for user equipment devices. Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing service providers, or through other providers of online services. For example, the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, a content sharing site, a social networking site, or other services via which user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others on connected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipment device to store content to the cloud and to receive content from the cloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-stored content.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders, digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, and handheld computing devices, to record content. The user can upload content to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, for example, from user computer equipment604or wireless user communications device606having content capture feature. Alternatively, the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, such as user computer equipment604. The user equipment device storing the content uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmission service on communications network614. In some embodiments, the user equipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipment devices can access the content directly from the user equipment device on which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, for example, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktop application, a mobile application, and/or any combination of access applications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloud client that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or the user equipment device may have some functionality without access to cloud resources. For example, some applications running on the user equipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications delivered as a service over the Internet, while other applications may be stored and run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user device may receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. For example, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource while downloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device can download content from multiple cloud resources for more efficient downloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloud resources for processing operations such as the processing operations performed by processing circuitry described in relation toFIG.5.

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as a result of. For example, a first action being performed in response to a second action may include interstitial steps between the first action and the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly in response to” refers to caused by. For example, a first action being performed directly in response to a second action may not include interstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

FIG.7is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for enhancing print media with an augmented reality device in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be noted that process700or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown inFIGS.5-6. For example, process700may be executed by control circuitry504(FIG.5) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., augmented reality device embodied in user equipment devices602,604, and/or606(FIG.6)) in order to enhance print media with supplemental content. In addition, one or more steps of process700may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiment (e.g., as described in relation toFIGS.1,2, and7-12).

At step710, a user profile for a user of an augmented reality device is determined. For example, control circuitry504may detect that a user is using augmented reality device230to view print media200. In response, control circuitry504may capture a fingerprint, retina image, distance between the eyes/ears, request login information or perform any other process that enables control circuitry504to uniquely identify the user of device230. Control circuitry504may query a profile database using some or all of the identity information captured from the user to retrieve a profile for the user. The profile may specify preferences and levels of interest the user has in one or more attributes.

At step720, content of the print media is searched to identify a first portion of the print media that matches the user profile and a second portion of the print media that does not match the user profile. For example, control circuitry504may perform image processing on a page of print media200being viewed by the user to identify which portions correspond to different articles. For example, control circuitry504may determine that first portion110corresponds to an article about weather and that second portion120corresponds to an article about politics. Control circuitry504may determine from the retrieved profile that the user prefers weather over sports and in response may identify that first portion110matches the user profile and second portion120does not match the user profile.

At step730, supplemental content is obtained based on content of the first portion of the print media. For example, control circuitry504may determine that first portion110represents weather information about a city called Palm Beach. In response, control circuitry504may search for supplemental content about the weather in Palm Beach and/or supplemental content about the city itself. For example, control circuitry504may retrieve media (e.g., pictures and/videos) generated by the user when the user visited the city of Palm Beach, posts or comments made by the user's friends relating to the city of Palm Beach, up-to-date or real-time information about events (e.g., sporting events) or teams from that region. To do so, control circuitry504may transmit an identifier of the user and a keyword from first portion110(e.g., the name of the city Palm Beach) to a local or remote database to obtain media related to first portion110.

At step740, a display of the supplemental content is positioned over the second portion of the print media. For example, control circuitry504may replace all or some of the content/images in second portion120with the supplemental content retrieved that relates to first portion110. For example, control circuitry504may present media220or a playlist of content in place of the content that is in second portion120. This media220may include pictures taken by the user when the user visited the city mentioned in first portion110, posts or comments made by friends of the user on a social network about the city and/or any other supplemental content discussed above. Media220that replaces the content in second portion120can only be seen through augmented reality device230, and to another user who is not viewing print media200through device230, print media200looks like print media100where none of the content on the print media is modified.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions ofFIG.7may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps and descriptions described in relation toFIG.7may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed in any order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS.5-6could be used to perform one or more of the steps inFIG.7.

FIG.8is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for enhancing print media with an augmented reality device in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be noted that process800or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown inFIGS.5-6. For example, process800may be executed by control circuitry504(FIG.5) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., augmented reality device embodied in user equipment devices602,604, and/or606(FIG.6)) in order to enhance print media with supplemental content. In addition, one or more steps of process800may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiment (e.g., as described in relation toFIGS.1,2, and7-12).

At step810, a user profile for a user of an augmented reality device is determined. For example, control circuitry504may detect that a user is using augmented reality device230to view print media200. In response, control circuitry504may capture a fingerprint, retina image, distance between the eyes/ears, request login information or perform any other process that enables control circuitry504to uniquely identify the user of device230. Control circuitry504may query a profile database using some or all of the identity information captured from the user to retrieve a profile for the user. The profile may specify preferences and levels of interest the user has in one or more attributes.

At step820, an area of the print media is processed to identify first and second portions of the print media within the area. For example, control circuitry504may capture an image of print media100and send the image to an image processing engine to identify which portions correspond to articles. The image processing engine may use edge detection and text analysis to determine where borders and objects exist that separate different collections of text and where headings exist. After identifying different collections of text representing different articles, the image processing engine may return to control circuitry504an identification of the location and borders of first portion110and second portion120. Using the location and borders, control circuitry504may ensure that supplemental content is only contained within a region corresponding to a given portion and does not overlap with any other region.

At step830, a first set of keywords associated with the first portion and a second set of keywords associated with the second portion are generated. For example, the image processing engine may return to control circuitry504the text of each portion. The image processing engine may perform automatic character recognition to obtain a digital representation of the text contained in each portion. Control circuitry504may select nouns, pronouns, verbs, predetermined words, etc. from each portion to generate first and second sets of keywords for respective first and second portions110and120.

At step840, the first and second sets of keywords are compared to the user profile. Control circuitry504may compute one or more characterizations of the keywords in the first and second sets of keywords. For example, control circuitry504may transmit the keywords in the first set of keywords to a database and receive one or more characterizations of the text. For example, the first set of keywords may include the words weather, Palm Beach, and rain and the database may determine these words are all associated with weather. Accordingly, the database may characterize the first set of words with weather. A similar analysis may be performed for the second set of keywords to determine that these keywords are characterized as politics. Control circuitry504may compare the characterizations of the sets of keywords with the profile to determine which sets of keywords match the attributes in the profile.

At step850, a determination is made that the first portion of the print media matches the user profile and the second portion of the print media does not match the user profile. For example, in response to determining that the first set of keywords matches the profile, control circuitry504may determine that the first portion matches the profile and in response to determining that the second set of keywords does not match the profile, control circuitry504may determine that the second portion does not match the profile.

At step860, a determination is made as to whether a digit of a user is positioned over the first portion. In response to determining that the digit is positioned over the first portion, the process proceeds to step870, otherwise the process proceeds to step880. For example, control circuitry504may detect a user's finger in the view of augmented reality device230. Control circuitry504may compute a distance between the finger and the first/second portion of print media200. In response to determining that a distance between the finger and the first portion110is less than a threshold (e.g., less than 3 centimeters), control circuitry504may determine that the user's finger or digit is positioned over first portion110. In some implementations, instead of a user's digit, control circuitry504may perform the same analysis for a stencil or stylus.

At step870, a magnified version of the content in the first portion is retrieved as supplemental content. For example, control circuitry504may select a region within range of the digit or stylus or stencil of first portion110. The region may correspond to one paragraph or a square area with a predetermined diagonal. Control circuitry504may identify the text contained in that area and may generate new text that is in a font size that is 2×, 3× or some predetermined or user specified value. The new text may be provided as the magnified version of the content over which the digit, stylus or stencil is positioned. Alternatively or in addition, control circuitry504may capture an image of the square area and transmit the image to the image processing engine to enhance the image and magnify the image by 2×, 3× or some predetermined or user specified value. These magnified portions may be provided as the supplemental content that is presented in place of first/second portions110and/or120.

At step880, a determination is made as to whether a QR code is detected in the first portion. In response to determining that QR code is detected in the first portion, the process proceeds to step890, otherwise the process proceeds to step892.

At step890, supplemental content is obtained from a server based on information obtained from the QR code. For example, control circuitry504may process the QR code to identify a URL specified or associated with the QR code. Control circuitry504may access the website and obtain some or all of the content from the website as the supplemental content.

At step892, a database is searched based on the first set of keywords to obtain supplemental content related to the first portion of the print media. For example, control circuitry504may transmit some or all of the keywords to a database that stores images or media generated by the user, an editor, a content source, and/or friends of the user on a social network to identify supplemental content that has metadata that matches at least one of the keywords in the first set.

At step894, a display of the supplemental content is positioned using the augmented reality device over the second portion of the print media. For example, control circuitry504may replace all or some of the content/images of the supplemental content in second portion120with the supplemental content retrieved that relates to first portion110. For example, control circuitry504may present media220or a playlist of content in place of the content that is in second portion120. This media220may include pictures taken by the user when the user visited the city mentioned in first portion110, posts or comments made by friends of the user on a social network about the city and/or any other supplemental content discussed above. Media220that replaces the content in second portion120can only be seen through augmented reality device230, and to another user who is not viewing print media200through device230, print media200looks like print media100where none of the content on the print media is modified.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions ofFIG.8may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps and descriptions described in relation toFIG.8may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed in any order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS.5-6could be used to perform one or more of the steps inFIG.8.

FIG.9is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for processing an area of print media in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be noted that process900or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown inFIGS.5-6. For example, process900may be executed by control circuitry504(FIG.5) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., augmented reality device embodied in user equipment devices602,604, and/or606(FIG.6)) in order to process an area of print media. In addition, one or more steps of process900may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiment (e.g., as described in relation toFIGS.1,2, and7-12).

At step910, the process for processing the area of the print media begins. For example, control circuitry504begins this process to perform step820(FIG.8).

At step920, image analysis is performed on the area to detect an object separating a first collection of text from a second collection of text. For example, an image processing engine may analyze the image of print media captured by device230to detect borders130,132and140that separate different collections of text.

At step930, a collection is selected for heading analysis. For example, the text between borders130and132is selected for heading analysis.

At step940, font sizes of text in the selected collection of text are computed. At step950, a determination is made as to whether more than one font size was computed in step940. In response to determining that more than one font size was computed, the process proceeds to step952, otherwise the process proceeds to step956.

At step952, amounts of text in the selected collection in each respective font size are determined.

At step954, a determination is made that a heading of the selected collection corresponds to the amount of text in the largest font size. For example, the image processing engine may determine that heading122includes text that is larger in font size than any other text in the region between borders130and132.

At step956, a determination is made that the selected collection does not have a heading.

At step958, the selected collection is combined with another collection that is adjacent with a heading. For example, the image processing engine may determine that text124does not include a heading and in response may combine it with nearby text including heading122.

At step960, a determination is made as to whether additional collections of text are left to analyze. In response to determining that additional collections remain, the process proceeds to step930, otherwise the process proceeds to step970.

At step970, in response to determining that the first and second collections of text include respective headings, the first collection of text is associated with the first portion and the second collection of text is associated with the second portion.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions ofFIG.9may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps and descriptions described in relation toFIG.9may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed in any order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS.5-6could be used to perform one or more of the steps inFIG.9.

FIG.10is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for searching a database based on a set of keywords from print media in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be noted that process1000or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown inFIGS.5-6. For example, process1000may be executed by control circuitry504(FIG.5) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., augmented reality device embodied in user equipment devices602,604, and/or606(FIG.6)) in order to search the database based on a set of keywords. In addition, one or more steps of process1000may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiment (e.g., as described in relation toFIGS.1,2, and7-12).

At step1010, the process for searching the database based on the first set of keywords begins. For example, control circuitry504begins this process to perform step892(FIG.8).

At step1020, a determination is made that a keyword of the first set of keywords relates to a geographical area. For example, control circuitry504may determine that the first set of keywords includes a name of a city. Accordingly, control circuitry504may define the geographical area to be GPS coordinates associated with the name of the city.

At step1030, a collection of media assets generated by the user is accessed from the database. For example, control circuitry504may access a local or remote database to obtain or identify pictures and videos generated or captured by the user.

At step1040, metadata associated with the collection of media assets is retrieved. For example, control circuitry504may retrieve for each media asset metadata including GPS coordinates and time/date stamps.

At step1050, a given media asset associated with metadata that matches the geographical location is identified. For example, control circuitry504may compare the GPS coordinates associated with the media assets generated by the user with the GPS coordinates of the city. If the GPS coordinates of the media assets are within the boundaries of the GPS coordinates of the city, control circuitry504may determine that the given media asset matches the geographical location of the print media.

At step1060, a determination is made as to whether additional media assets in the collection are associated with metadata that matches the geographical location. In response to determining that additional media assets are associated with the metadata that matches the location, the process proceeds to step1062, otherwise the process proceeds to step1080.

At step1062, the given media asset and each additional media asset are added to a playlist. For example, control circuitry504may store the media assets in a playlist and order the media assets according to various criteria (e.g., chronologically by time and/or date, by distance based on GPS coordinates, by type of media asset, by source, etc.).

At step1070, the playlist of media assets is provided as the supplemental content.

At step1080, the identified given media asset is provided as the supplemental content.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions ofFIG.10may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps and descriptions described in relation toFIG.10may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed in any order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS.5-6could be used to perform one or more of the steps inFIG.10.

FIG.11is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for searching a database based on a set of keywords from print media in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be noted that process1100or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown inFIGS.5-6. For example, process1100may be executed by control circuitry504(FIG.5) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., augmented reality device embodied in user equipment devices602,604, and/or606(FIG.6)) in order to search the database based on a set of keywords. In addition, one or more steps of process1100may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiment (e.g., as described in relation toFIGS.1,2, and7-12).

At step1110, the process for searching the database based on the first set of keywords begins. For example, control circuitry504begins this process to perform step892(FIG.8).

At step1120, a list of content in the print media is accessed from the database. For example, control circuitry504may access a server associated with a source of the newspaper (if the print media is a newspaper) and obtain a list of all the articles and pages associated with those articles from the source. Control circuitry504may transmit to the server the name of the newspaper and date associated with the newspaper.

At step1130, other content that is related to the first set of keywords is identified from the list of content. For example, control circuitry504may determine that the first set of keywords corresponding to first portion110which is on page 1 relate to weather, which is also described further in a weather section on page 10.

At step1140, a determination is made that the other content is located in a second page of the print media.

At step1150, the other content and a reference to the second page of the print media are provided as the supplemental content. For example, control circuitry504may obtain all or a portion of the article that is related to the weather that is on page 10 of the newspaper and present that as supplemental content on page 1 together with first portion110.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions ofFIG.11may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps and descriptions described in relation toFIG.11may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed in any order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS.5-6could be used to perform one or more of the steps inFIG.11.

FIG.12is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for presenting geographically specific supplemental content over print media in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be noted that process1200or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown inFIGS.5-6. For example, process1200may be executed by control circuitry504(FIG.5) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on a user device (e.g., augmented reality device embodied in user equipment devices602,604, and/or606(FIG.6)) in order to present geographically specific supplemental content over print media. In addition, one or more steps of process1200may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiment (e.g., as described in relation toFIGS.1,2, and7-12).

At step1210, a determination that the print media is associated with a first geographical location is made.

At step1220, a determination that the first set of keywords associated with the first portion are associated with the first geographical location is made. For example, control circuitry504may determine that the first set of keywords includes a name of a city. Accordingly, control circuitry504may define the first geographical location to be GPS coordinates associated with the name of the city.

At step1230, a detection is made that the user is currently in a second geographical location. For example, control circuitry504may retrieve GPS information from device230to determine the second geographical location of the user.

At step1240, a determination is made as to whether the second geographical location is different from the first geographical location by more than a threshold amount. In response to determining that the second location is different from the first by more than a threshold amount, the process proceeds to step1242, otherwise the process proceeds to step1230. For example, control circuitry504may determine whether the user's current geographical location (e.g., the second geographical location) is more than a threshold distance (over 100 miles) from the geographical locale of the print media.

At step1242, subject matter related to the first set of keywords is identified. For example, control circuitry504may determine whether the keywords include reference to weather information (e.g., if the words include temperatures and/or words related to weather (storm, winter, snow, etc.)) and if so, the subject matter may be determined to be weather. Alternatively, control circuitry504may determine whether the keywords include reference to politics (e.g., names of a president or congress member) and if so, the subject matter may be determined to be politics. Alternatively, control circuitry504may determine whether the keywords include reference to sports (e.g., the words football, names of players, names of stadiums, score information) and if so, the subject matter may be determined to be sports.

At step1250, a determination is made as to whether the subject matter relates to weather. In response to determining that the subject matter is related to weather, the process proceeds to step1252, otherwise the process proceeds to step1270.

At step1252, weather information for the second geographical location is retrieved. For example, control circuitry504may access a weather source (e.g., a weather website) and provide the GPS coordinates of device230to obtain current and future weather information for the user's current location.

At step1260, weather information in the first portion is replaced with the weather information for the second geographical location. For example, control circuitry504may replace temperature and weather information in first portion110pertaining to the location of the print media with temperature and weather information210for the user's current location. For example, weather information pertaining to Palm Beach may be replaced with weather information for New York if the user is currently in New York and the print media is for Palm Beach.

At step1270, content associated with the subject matter and the second geographical location is retrieved. For example, if the subject matter is sports and football, control circuitry504may retrieve sporting event information for a football team local to the current geographical location of the user.

At step1280, the retrieved content is generated for display using the augmented reality device in the first portion replacing at least a portion of information in the first portion. For example, control circuitry504may replace a football team score information associated with the location of the print media with the football team score information of the team local to the user.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions ofFIG.12may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps and descriptions described in relation toFIG.12may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed in any order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or method. Any of these steps may also be skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be noted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS.5-6could be used to perform one or more of the steps inFIG.12.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and not limiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of the processes discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/or rearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departing from the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure is meant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow are meant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes. Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitations described in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodiment herein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may be combined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done in different orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems and methods described herein may be performed in real time. It should also be noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.