Patent ID: 8914818

Claim:
A system for use with a media player configured to playback audio and/or video (AV) content, wherein playback includes at least one of decoding and/or rendering the AV content, the system comprising: a sensor configured to detect a stimulus relevant to an AV consumption indicator and to output a first signal including data about the stimulus; an analysis module configured to receive the first signal and to determine if a user of the media player is actually consuming the AV content based on the first signal, and to compare the AV consumption indicator against a hierarchy of AV consumption indicators within a context of the detected stimulus so as to assign a preference or greater significance to the AV consumption indicator over other AV consumption indicators; and a control module configured to output a control signal to the media player, the control signal for stopping or starting playback of the AV content based on output from the analysis module; wherein the AV consumption indicator is selected from the group consisting of operation of a mute function, adjustment of a playback volume level, determination of whether the user is talking aloud, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold intensity level, determination of whether an ambient sound crosses a threshold duration, identification of a biometric/physiological cue pertaining to the user, identification of a visual cue pertaining to the user, and communication with an external device.