Interactive television system with custom video-on-demand menus based on personal profiles
An interactive television system is provided in which a user can use an interactive television application to access and request media-on-demand programming. The interactive television application may display customized interface display screens that include video-on-demand programs and categories that may be of particular interest to the user. These programs and categories of interest may be based on the user's personal profile. Once a list of programs and categories based on a user's personal profile is generated, one or more of these programs may be incorporated in a menu interface template to generate a video-on-demand menu customized for the user.
1 . A method of providing a user with media-on-demand programming using an interactive television application implemented on user equipment, the method comprising:
generating a personal profile based on collected information relating to the user;
determining a media-on-demand program for the user based at least in part on the personal profile;
generating a customized media-on-demand display by incorporating the media-on-demand program into an interface template; and
displaying the customized media-on-demand display to the user.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the personal profile comprises collecting demographic information about the user.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the personal profile comprises collecting information about the user's interests.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the personal profile comprises collecting information about the user's viewing habits.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the personal profile comprises collecting information about the user's interactions with the interactive television application.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the media-on-demand program comprises correlating the personal profile of the user with a second personal profile of a second user.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the media-on-demand program comprises comparing attributes of the media-on-demand program with the personal profile.
8 . The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the personal profile on the user equipment.
9 . The method of claim 1 further comprising modifying the personal profile based on the user's interactions with the customized media-on-demand display.
10 . User equipment for providing a user with media-on-demand programming using an interactive television application implemented on the user equipment, the user equipment comprising:
a display;
control circuitry configured to:
generate a personal profile based on collected information relating to the user;
determine a media-on-demand program for the user based at least in part on the personal profile;
generate a customized media-on-demand display by incorporating the media-on-demand program into an interface template; and
display the customized media-on-demand display to the user.
11 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the collected information comprises demographic information about the user.
12 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the collected information comprises information about the user's interests.
13 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the collected information comprises information about the user's viewing habits.
14 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the collected information comprises information about the user's interactions with the interactive television application.
15 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry, when configured to determine the media-on-demand program for the user, is configured to correlate the personal profile of the user with a second personal profile of a second user.
16 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry, when configured to determine the media-on-demand program for the user, is configured to compare attributes of the media-on-demand program with the personal profile.
17 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to store the personal profile on the user equipment.
18 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to modify the personal profile based on the user's interactions with the customized media-on-demand display.
19 . A system for providing a user with media-on-demand programming using an interactive television application implemented on the user equipment, the system comprising:
means for generating a personal profile based on collected information relating to the user;
means for determining a media-on-demand program for the user based at least in part on the personal profile;
means for generating a customized media-on-demand display by incorporating the media-on-demand program into an interface template; and
means for displaying the customized media-on-demand display to the user.
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the collected information comprises demographic information about the user.
21 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the collected information comprises information about the user's interests.
22 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the collected information comprises information about the user's viewing habits.
23 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the collected information comprises information about the user's interactions with the interactive television application.
24 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the means for determining the media-on-demand program comprises means for correlating the personal profile of the user with a second personal profile of a second user.
25 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the means for determining the media-on-demand program comprises means for comparing attributes of the media-on-demand program with the personal profile.
26 . The system of claim 19 further comprising means for storing the personal profile on the user equipment.
27 . The system of claim 19 further comprising means for modifying the personal profile based on the user's interactions with the customized media-on-demand display.
28 . Machine-readable media for use in an interactive television application implemented on user equipment, in which the interactive television application provides a user with media-on-demand programming, wherein the media is encoded with machine-readable instructions for performing the method comprising:
generating a personal profile based on collected information relating to the user;
determining a media-on-demand program for the user based at least in part on the personal profile;
generating a customized media-on-demand display by incorporating the media-on-demand program into an interface template; and
displaying the customized media-on-demand display to the user.
29 . The machine-readable media of claim 28 , wherein the generating the personal profile comprises collecting demographic information about the user.
30 . The machine-readable media of claim 28 , wherein the generating the user personal profile comprises collecting information about the user's interests.
31 . The machine-readable media of claim 28 , wherein the generating the personal profile comprises collecting information about the user's viewing habits.
32 . The machine-readable media of claim 28 , wherein the generating the personal profile comprises collecting information about the user's interactions with the interactive television application.
33 . The machine-readable media of claim 28 , wherein the determining the media-on-demand comprises correlating the personal profile of the user with a second personal profile of a second user.
34 . The machine-readable media of claim 28 , wherein the determining the media-on-demand program comprises comparing attributes of the media-on-demand program with the personal profile.
35 . The machine-readable media of claim 28 further comprising storing the personal profile on the user equipment.
36 . The machine-readable media of claim 28 further comprising modifying the user personal profile based on the user's interactions with the customized media-on-demand display.