Google Inc.

Yu Pan

Hong Qu

Jasson Schrock

Ches Wajda

Maryrose Dunton

Julian Frumar

Ryan Junee

Michael Powers

Richard Benjamin Leider

Mohan V Nibhanupudi

Erik Klein

Herbert Ho

Steven Chen

Slave Jovanovski

The present invention enables real-time video commenting by viewers of media content on a web site. The media content may be video, audio, text, still images or other types of media content. When a content viewer indicates a desire to provide a real-time video comment, a content server causes a video input device at the content viewer's location to be activated. The content viewer's video comment is captured by the video input device and transmitted to the content server, where it is stored and associated with the video being commented upon. When the original video is subsequently presented to content viewers, indicia of the video comment such as a thumbnail or description of the comment is also presented, thus inviting content viewers to view the video comment in addition to the original video.

Real-time video commenting

A system, method and various user interfaces enable visually browsing multiple groups of video recommendations. A video stream includes a group of videos to be viewed and commented by users who join the stream. Users who join a stream form a stream community. In a stream community, community members can add videos to the stream and interact collaboratively with others community members, such as chatting in real time with each other while viewing a video. With streams, a user can create a virtual room in an online video content distribution environment to watch videos of the streams and interact with others while sharing videos simultaneously. Consequently, users have an enhanced video viewing and sharing experience.

Collaborative streaming of video content

Community interaction during video viewing is provided. A video hosting website includes videos available for viewing. Users establish lists of friends, who are other users of the video hosting site. When a user logs on, her presence is made known by an interaction engine to her friends that are also logged in to the site. The user's activities are tracked and her friends are notified of those activities. Tracked activities may include viewing a video, rating a video, commenting on a video, uploading a video to the site, and adding a new friend. Friends are notified of these activities in one embodiment through one or more user interface elements. A user can select a user interface element to discover which of her friends are also watching the same video at that time. A user watching a video can summon her online friends to the watch page to watch collaboratively.

Real-time interaction during video viewing

A system, method and various user interfaces enable visually browsing multiple groups of video recommendations. A group of video recommendations includes a central video and a set of related videos displayed at its corresponding display distance from the central video and from each other. The corresponding display distance of a video is calculated as a function of the video's recommendation score and correlation with other videos of the group. The recommendation score is generated based on a weighted covisitation measure. Visually presenting recommended videos to a user provides a quick and intuitive way to find videos of interest and visualize the browsing of the recommended videos.

Visual presentation of video recommendations

Collaborative streaning of video content

A system, method and various user interfaces enable association of advertising content with requested shared video content for access via a web-based video player. Advertising content is provided selectively after playback of video content. Following presentation of video content, multiple panes of 'similar videos' window are presented in a manner that cycle with time as tracked by a pie chart time indicator.

Pie chart time indicator

A system, method and various user interfaces facilitate traversing multiple groups of video recommendations. A group of video recommendations includes a central video, an indicator of video of interest corresponding to the central video, and a set of related videos displayed at its corresponding display distance from the central video and from each other. The corresponding display distance of a video is calculated as a function of the video's recommendation score and correlation with other videos of the group. Responsive to selection of new central video, a new group of video recommendations is generated and displayed in coordination of the existing groups of video recommendations, where the plurality of central videos are visually connected. Visually presenting recommended videos responsive to user selections of videos of interest provides a quick and intuitive way for user to traverse videos of interest and visualize the browsing of the recommended videos.

Growing community of inventors

San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Yu Pan