Patent ID: 7672864

Claim:
A computer implemented method for generating a series of level-of-interest values for a media item, comprising: receiving, with a computer, input indicating interest in a specific point within the media item from a plurality of users, the input being one from the group of keystrokes, audio input and video input, wherein the media item comprises a presentation or a live event; timestamping, with the computer, the input; deriving, with the computer, bookmarks for the media item based on the input and the timestamps, wherein the bookmarks indicate the specific points in the media item; generating, with the computer, a timeline of the bookmarks for the media item; forming, with the computer, a plurality of time periods based on the timestamps; for each of the plurality of the time periods, generating, with the computer, a level-of-interest value for each of the plurality of time periods based on a total number of bookmarks within each time period by initializing a sliding window having a duration; and for each of a plurality of positions for the sliding window, generating a level-of-interest value for a target point within the window based on a total number of bookmarks within the window; moving the sliding windows and repeated the generating step and moving steps until the end of the media item is reached; and outputting, with the computer, a level-of-interest curve having a first axis representing the timeline and a second axis representing the generated level-of-interest values.