Goldspot Media, Inc.

Vyu Labs, Inc.

Srinivasa M Dharmaji

Xin Feng

Pavel S Veselov

Bharat Bhusan Biswal

Introduced here are computer programs and associated computer-implemented techniques for broadcasting social media sessions via an entertainment platform, such as a broadcast television network. More specifically, the technologies described herein relate to broadcasting interaction sessions involving a host (also referred to as a 'communicator') and one or more participants. An entertainment platform may contact the host or another person associated with the host, such as an agent, manager, family member, or friend, to seek permission to broadcast the session to its audience. An example of an entertainment platform is a broadcast television network. The host then closes a deal with the entertainment platform, whereby the entertainment platform has the rights to simulcast the session to its television viewers in real time, replay the session to its television viewers at later times, or both.

Television interface for multi-party social media sessions

Methods, apparatuses, and embodiments related to streaming live video. A celebrity plans to live stream an interaction with a fan to a large number of her fans. The celebrity uses a device to capture and stream live video to her fans. The celebrity selects a fan and begins to interact with the fan, who uses a device to live stream a question. To enable a more natural interaction, the celebrity utilizes a platform with reduced latency of communication. With other platforms, latencies of between 6 to 30 seconds may occur in interactions between the celebrity and the fan. The platform utilizes one or more techniques to achieve reduced latency, such as not performing error checks on the live streamed data, not reordering packets while they are being relayed between devices, etc. A TCP tunnel that utilizes raw sockets is used to enable customized techniques for reducing communication latency.

Streaming live video

Introduced here are computer programs and associated computer-implemented techniques for streaming pre-recorded social media sessions involving a host (also referred to as a 'communicator') and one or more participants. In some embodiments the pre-recorded social media sessions are based on recordings of live interactions between the host and the participant(s), while in other embodiments the pre-recorded social media sessions are based on separate recordings that are combined in such a way to mimic a live face-to-face interaction. Accordingly, these pre-recorded social media sessions may be presented in such a manner that they appear to be live broadcasts that are streamed in real time. Various embodiments also concern technologies that enable an interaction management platform to intelligently create social media sessions from pre-recorded media content generated by the host and/or the participant(s).

Playback of pre-recorded social media sessions

Techniques are described for participant selection and abuse prevention in paced, synchronous interactive sessions that include, in some embodiments, live video communications. In an embodiment a process for participant selection to prevent abuse can include receiving a request to initiate an interactive session that includes a participant selection criterion. The request is received at a computer system operating as part of a platform for facilitating paced, synchronous interactive sessions and may be based on inputs received from a host user (e.g. a celebrity at a host user device. The receiving computer system can then apply the received participant selection criterion to select a participant from the multiple participants connected to the interactive session. This selected participant is then allowed to broadcast a media stream (e.g. including live or pre-recorded video) that is viewable by the host and the other participants. In some embodiments, the participant selection criterion can include, pre-filtering, pre-selection, pre-recording, geo-targeting, and/or blacklisting.

Participant selection and abuse prevention for interactive video sessions

Various embodiments concern a platform for creating and managing paced, synchronous interactions between a celebrity and one or more audience members. More specifically, the platform generates interfaces that are accessible on user devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, personal computers) and that display media content. For example, live media content could be captured by the celebrity's user device and then broadcast to user device(s) associated with the audience member(s) in real time. In some embodiments, audience member(s) may also be able to capture and broadcast live media content. For example, an audience member may wish to record a question for the celebrity or answer a question posed by the celebrity.

Platform for facilitating paced, synchronous interactive experiences

The delivery of targeted advertisements (ads) to wireless mobile handheld display devices (MHDDs) with client specific advertisement and dynamic content for response and feedback is becoming important in advertising. As the return for ads on MHDDs becomes higher, there is a push to show larger and more interactive ads on devices that have small displays. This has created a need to maximize the area available for ad viewing. The need for larger viewing area reduces the area available for call-to-action response enabling switches or inserts on the screen for customer interaction. To overcome this deficiency and provide the necessary end-to-end response capability, hot-spots on the ad image are provided as call-to-action response regions without limitation on the ad viewing area. The use of such hot-spots provides users of MHDDs a preferred interaction mechanism for responding to the advertisement, while maintaining a large ad viewing area.

Hot spot use in advertising

The delivery of targeted advertisements (ads) to wireless mobile handheld display devices (MHDDs) with client specific advertisement and dynamic content for response and feedback is becoming important in advertising. As the return for ads on MHDDs becomes higher, there is a push to show larger, complex, and more interactive ads on small displays. This has created a need to maximize the area available for ad viewing. The need also exists for increasing the engagement time of the ads. An embodiment of the invention establishes such capability by providing a rolled up ad display where the banner area is used to present a continuously rolling, rolled up ad, which is displayed on the screen at the ad spots by unrolling. Furthermore, the use of transparent hot-spots on the ad allows the whole display screen of the MHDD to be used for presentation of such large and complex ads.

Method and apparatus for maximizing brand exposure in a minimal mobile display

Alternate digital content is inserted into mobile devices with a method and apparatus that comprises an alternate content scheduler, an alternate content reporter, and a micro-splicer. The alternate content scheduler further comprises a mobile network interface for interaction with a mobile data and broadcast network, a micro-splicer interface for interfacing with a micro-splicer, a rulebook that is shared with the network which provides the rules for alternate content scheduling, a preference provisioning module comprising an alternate content scheduler library for storing user or network preferences, a scheduler for providing tight synchronization between original program content and alternate content, and a metric recording interface to an alternate content reporter. The micro-splicer works in tandem with the alternate content scheduler to render synchronized display of alternate multimedia content on the mobile device.

Method and apparatus for alternate content scheduling on mobile devices

A system and method for tracking beacon execution using event verification capability of an operating system. Displaying targeted advertisements during content viewing and web browsing and tracking the rendered and displayed advertisements for payment based on completion of viewing using means for keeping count, with verifiable IDs, of beacon execution using the operating system capability to verify application activity.

Operating system based event verification

Content is downloaded to a mobile handheld device (MHD) and buffered on the MHD prior to, and during, viewing. Normal wireless bandwidth varies with atmospheric conditions, distance, obstructions in the path, etc. and hence the speed at which a content-buffer (CB) on the MHD is replenished changes. Because this can result in very low quality viewing experience for the user, the capability for alternate content scheduling provided a micro-splicer is used to enable stored alternate content or advertisement insertion during periods of low viewing quality, when the CB does not hold sufficient content during the viewing period. This alternate content insertion allows the CB to be refilled before the user resumes content viewing.

Method and apparatus for browser based advertisement insertion

A time delay that occurs when an application is launched in a mobile handheld display device (MHDD), when the application or content is downloaded, before the MHDD is ready for the user to interact with it, wastes the user's time and, in an embodiment of the invention, this time delay constitutes an interval that is used to display targeted advertisements that are already stored on the MHDD, and that are rendered and displayed to the user on the screen while the user waits for completion of downloading of the application or content to the MHDD. An embodiment of the invention provides a micro-splicer that inserts alternate content for display on an MHDD, and renders and displays pre-stored advertisements during application launch time.

Advertisement insertion during application launch in handheld, mobile display devices

In a targeted advertising system focused advertisements or alternate content is pre-stored on a handheld device, inserted into a multimedia stream at predefined times and points in the content stream for a predefined interval, otherwise referred to as a spot. A micro-splicer, instantiated on a handheld device, enables alternate content rendering, instead of the original program content, at available advertisement spots during program content viewing. The micro-splicer uses metadata to identify the correct alternate content and display it in the correct spot. The micro-splicer also enables switching the display back to the multimedia program content after the end of the alternate content. User viewing and interaction with the alternate content is ensured by instructing the micro-splicer to switch back to multimedia program content only after receipt of predefined user feedback.

Growing community of inventors

Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Srinivasa M Dharmaji