Method and system for roles based selection and control of video content

1 . A method using a computing device to initiate play of media comprising:

determining a number of persons within a room;

upon determining that the number of persons within the room is equal to one, determining that the one person is within a first zone defined by a predefined boundary area, wherein the predefined boundary area is smaller than the room and is fixed relative to a specific single-occupancy location within the room, and wherein the one person determined to be within the first zone is defined as a potential viewer of media; and

initiating play of media from its predefined beginning upon determining both that the number of persons within the room is equal to one and that a potential viewer of media is within the first zone.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the number of persons within the room is based on at least one image captured by one or more image capturer, the method further comprising:

determining a facial signature for the potential viewer of media;

comparing said facial signature to data within a pre-existing sample facial signature repository; and

preventing the initiation of play of media if said facial signature matches a sample facial signature in said repository.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the number of persons within the room is based on at least one image captured by one or more image capturer, the method further comprising:

estimating at least one of an age and a gender of the potential viewer of media by a deep neural network using a face detector; and

selecting media to be played based at least partially on the estimated at least one of age and gender.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the room further comprises a second zone discrete from the first zone, and wherein y coordinate filtering is used to (a) distinguish persons near doorways outside said room from persons inside said room or (b) differentiate persons within the first zone from persons within the second zone.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the number of persons within the room is based on a plurality of images captured by one or more image capturer, and wherein capturing the plurality of images by the one or more image capturers further comprises determining a location of persons within a field of the image capturer to distinguish persons near doorways outside a room from persons inside said room.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein persons in the room have access to a stop control that causes media play to stop and prevents any play of media from resuming until a pre-defined condition for resumption of play has been met.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination that the one person is within the first zone determines that the one person is wholly within the predefined boundary area.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

after initiating play of media determining whether the number of persons within the room has increased;

if the number of persons within the room has increased, determining if a second person has entered the room from a predefined visitor area;

designating said second person to be a visitor

preventing the presence of such designated visitor from stopping the play of media.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

after initiating play of media, determining whether the number of persons within the room has increased;

if the number of persons within the room has increased, defining a second person in the room to be a media play stopper; and

stopping the play of media if any media play stopper is determined to be in the room in addition to the one person.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising setting a lockout indicating presence of a media play stopper in the room to prevent any play of media from resuming until a pre-defined condition for resumption of play has been met.

11 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

after stopping the play of media, determining that the number of persons within the room is equal to one; and

causing play of media to resume.

12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

after setting a lockout:

determining that an individual is detected as having left the room;

clearing said lockout to allow media to resume play.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that said media has concluded play, reached a notification token in a playlist, or a media stop request has been made through a stop control; and

sending a message to at least one previously identified mobile device indicating that a patient is available, the message containing an identity of the corresponding room in which said media played.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that said media has concluded play, reached a notification token in a playlist, or a media stop request has been made through a stop control; and

sending a message through a network to a mobile notification application indicating that the potential viewer of media is available, the message including a location in which said media played;

wherein said mobile notification application causes a message to be displayed that indicates that the potential viewer of media is ready.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the message is only displayed at the mobile device if the corresponding location is in geographical proximity to the mobile device as indicated by pre-set GPS coordinates.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein a mobile notification application that transmits the message supports filtering of messages associated with a specific geographical location by room within said location.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein an alarm is provided each time that a potential viewer of media remains unattended in excess of a preset interval.

18 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

capturing at least one image of at least part of the one person within the first zone; and

modifying said at least one image to illustrate an effect of a product, service, or procedure on an appearance of the one person to create a modified image,

wherein the media for which play is initiated comprises the modified image.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the product, service, or procedure comprises eyewear or a cosmetic surgical procedure.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the product, service, or procedure comprises eyewear, wherein the method further comprises estimating at least one of an age and a gender of the potential viewer of media based on the at least one image, wherein the modifying of the at least one image illustrates the effect of an eyewear frame selected at least partially based on the age or gender of the potential viewer of media.

21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of persons within the room is determined to be two, and wherein the method further comprises:

setting a lockout indicating the presence of a media play stopper in the room to prevent any play of media;

determining that an individual has left the room, thereby supporting a determination that the number of persons within the room is equal to one;

clearing the lockout only upon determining that the individual has left the room.