SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SIMULATING DIALOG BETWEEN A USER AND MEDIA EQUIPMENT DEVICE

1 . A method for simulating dialog between a user and an actor presented on a media equipment device, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of videos of the actor, wherein the actor communicates a different message in each of the plurality of videos;

storing a plurality of clips of a media asset associated with the actor;

displaying a variable length sequence of media comprising first and second of the plurality of videos of the actor and at least one of the plurality clips of the media asset, wherein the at least one of the clips is in the sequence of media between the first and second videos of the actor;

monitoring verbal input of the user as the first video in the sequence is displayed; and

determining which of the plurality of clips to display as the at least one of the clips in the sequence of media based on the monitored verbal input.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the message communicated by the actor in the first video of the plurality of videos includes a dialog opener, further comprising:

receiving a request from the user to have a dialog with the actor using the media equipment device;

retrieving for display the first video; and

monitoring verbal responses from the user to the first video.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the actor communicates a dialog opener in a set of the plurality of videos of the actor, and wherein the first video is selected from the set, further comprising:

determining whether the user previously had a dialog with the actor; and

identifying which of the plurality of videos in the set have previously been presented to the user; and

selecting, as the first video, one of the videos in the set which have not been previously presented to the user.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the variable length sequence further comprises a third video of the plurality of videos of the actor positioned after the first video, wherein the message communicated by the actor in the third video includes a description of the media asset, further comprising:

determining based on the verbal response from the user whether the user has previously accessed the media asset;

positioning the at least one clip after the third video when the user has not previously accessed the media asset; and

adding, to the variable length sequence, a fourth video of the plurality of videos of the actor, wherein the fourth video is positioned after the third video when the user has previously accessed the media asset and the at least one clip is positioned after the fourth video when the user has previously accessed the media asset.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

continuously monitoring further verbal input as each media in the sequence is displayed;

selecting at least one of a third video of the plurality of videos of the actor and another clip of the plurality of clips based on the monitored further verbal input; and

adding, to the sequence of media, the selected at least one of the third video and another clip, wherein the length of the sequence varies based on the adding.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the variable length sequence further comprises a third video of the plurality of videos of the actor positioned after the first video, wherein the actor communicates a ploy as the message in a set of the plurality of videos, further comprising:

associating the first video of the plurality of videos with a set of expected responses;

applying voice recognition to the monitored verbal input to determine whether the verbal input matches one of the expected responses in the set of expected responses associated with the first video that is displayed; and

selecting as the third video one of a plurality of videos in the set of the plurality of videos when the expected response does not match one of the expected responses.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the ploy in the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set comprises a message that includes a description of the media asset, further comprising:

retrieving for display the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set; and

receiving verbal response from the user to the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set that is displayed;

wherein the clip to display as the at least one clip is determined based on the verbal response received from the user.

8 . The method of claim 6 wherein the ploy in the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set comprises a message that includes subject matter associated with the voice recognized verbal input.

9 . The method of claim 6 wherein the ploy in the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set comprises a message that includes a request for the user to repeat the response to the first video.

10 . The method of claim 6 wherein the ploy in the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set comprises a message that makes the actor appear to the user as being interested in the response received.

11 . The method of claim 6 wherein the one of the plurality of videos in the set is selected at random.

12 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying a list of actors which are available for dialog simulation using the media equipment device; and

receiving a user selection of one of the actors in the list.

13 . The method of claim 12 further comprising:

retrieving from a remote database a plurality of videos of the selected one of the actors, wherein the selected one of the actors communicates a different message in each of the retrieved plurality of videos; and

storing, as the stored plurality of videos of the actor, the videos retrieved from the remote database.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the actor communicates a dialog ending segment in a set of the plurality of videos, further comprising:

identifying which of the plurality of videos in the set have previously been presented to the user; and

displaying as the second video one of the videos in the set which have not been previously presented to the user.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

determining that the verbal input corresponds to an instruction to end the dialog;

wherein the identifying and displaying are performed in response to the determining.

16 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating a rank for each of the plurality of stored clips of the media asset according to a level of interest to the user; and

determining which of the clips to display as the at least one clip based on the associated rank of the clips.

17 . The method of claim 16 wherein the determined clip is associated with a higher rank than all the other clips.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the variable length sequence further comprises a second clip of the plurality of clips of the media asset, wherein the second clip follows the at least one clip and precedes the second video, further comprising:

detecting a reaction of the user to the displayed at least one clip;

adding to the variable length sequence a third video of the plurality of videos of the actor positioned after the at least one clip and before the second clip; and

determining which of the plurality of clips of the media asset to display as the second clip based on the reaction of the user.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein determining which of the plurality of clips to display as the second clip comprises:

selecting a clip associated with a rank lower than the rank of the at least one clip when the reaction is positive; and

selecting a clip associated with a rank higher than the rank of the at least one clip when the reaction is negative.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein detecting the reaction comprises:

monitoring verbal utterances made by the user while the first clip is displayed; and

determining whether the verbal utterances are associated with a negative or a positive reaction.

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein determining whether the verbal utterances are associated with the negative or positive reaction comprises:

maintaining a user voice profile which includes a mapping between voice information associated with the user and negative or positive reactions.

22 . The method of claim 20 , wherein:

monitoring the verbal utterances comprises detecting absence of expected verbal utterances at predetermined playback time periods of the first clip; and

verbal utterances are determined to be associated with a negative reaction when the absence of expected verbal utterances are detected.

23 . The method of claim 22 further comprising terminating playback of the first clip in response to detecting the absence of expected verbal utterances.

24 . The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of clips of the media asset are short segments of one or more episodes of a show in which the actor is a character or short segments presented at some point within an instance of a show in which the actor is present.

25 . The method of claim 1 wherein each of the clips are longer in runtime than the videos of the actor by at least one order of magnitude.

26 . The method of claim 1 further comprising providing video and audio continuity between first and second videos of the actor.

27 . A system for simulating dialog between a user and an actor presented on a media equipment device, the system comprising:

a display;

a memory; and

processing circuitry configured to:

store in the memory a plurality of videos of the actor, wherein the actor communicates a different message in each of the plurality of videos;

store in the memory a plurality of clips of a media asset associated with the actor;

display on the display a variable length sequence of media comprising first and second of the plurality of videos of the actor and at least one of the plurality clips of the media asset, wherein the at least one of the clips is in the sequence of media between the first and second videos of the actor;

monitor verbal input of the user as the first video in the sequence is displayed; and

determine which of the plurality of clips to display as the at least one of the clips in the sequence of media based on the monitored verbal input.

28 . The system of claim 27 , wherein the message communicated by the actor in the first video of the plurality of videos includes a dialog opener, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive a request from the user to have a dialog with the actor using the media equipment device;

retrieve from the memory for display on the display the first video; and

monitor verbal responses from the user to the first video.

29 . The system of claim 28 , wherein the actor communicates a dialog opener in a set of the plurality of videos of the actor, and wherein the first video is selected from the set, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

determine whether the user previously had a dialog with the actor; and

identify which of the plurality of videos in the set have previously been presented to the user; and

select, as the first video, one of the videos in the set which have not been previously presented to the user.

30 . The system of claim 28 , wherein the variable length sequence further comprises a third video of the plurality of videos of the actor positioned after the first video, wherein the message communicated by the actor in the third video includes a description of the media asset, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

determine based on the verbal response from the user whether the user has previously accessed the media asset;

position the at least one clip after the third video when the user has not previously accessed the media asset; and

add, to the variable length sequence, a fourth video of the plurality of videos of the actor, wherein the fourth video is positioned after the third video when the user has previously accessed the media asset and the at least one clip is positioned after the fourth video when the user has previously accessed the media asset.

31 . The system of claim 27 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

continuously monitor further verbal input as each media in the sequence is displayed;

select at least one of a third video of the plurality of videos of the actor and another clip of the plurality of clips based on the monitored further verbal input; and

add, to the sequence of media, the selected at least one of the third video and another clip, wherein the length of the sequence varies based on the adding.

32 . The system of claim 27 , wherein the variable length sequence further comprises a third video of the plurality of videos of the actor positioned after the first video, wherein the actor communicates a ploy as the message in a set of the plurality of videos, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

associate the first video of the plurality of videos with a set of expected responses;

apply voice recognition to the monitored verbal input to determine whether the verbal input matches one of the expected responses in the set of expected responses associated with the first video that is displayed; and

select as the third video one of a plurality of videos in the set of the plurality of videos when the expected response does not match one of the expected responses.

33 . The system of claim 32 , wherein the ploy in the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set comprises a message that includes a description of the media asset, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

retrieve from the memory for display on the display the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set; and

receive verbal response from the user to the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set that is displayed;

wherein the clip to display as the at least one clip is determined based on the verbal response received from the user.

34 . The system of claim 32 wherein the ploy in the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set comprises a message that includes subject matter associated with the voice recognized verbal input.

35 . The system of claim 32 wherein the ploy in the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set comprises a message that includes a request for the user to repeat the response to the first video.

36 . The system of claim 32 wherein the ploy in the selected one of the plurality of videos in the set comprises a message that makes the actor appear to the user as being interested in the response received.

37 . The system of claim 32 wherein the one of the plurality of videos in the set is selected at random.

38 . The system of claim 27 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

display on the display a list of actors which are available for dialog simulation using the media equipment device; and

receive a user selection of one of the actors in the list.

39 . The system of claim 38 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

retrieve from a remote database a plurality of videos of the selected one of the actors, wherein the selected one of the actors communicates a different message in each of the retrieved plurality of videos; and

store, as the stored plurality of videos of the actor, the videos retrieved from the remote database.

40 . The system of claim 27 , wherein the actor communicates a dialog ending segment in a set of the plurality of videos, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

identify which of the plurality of videos in the set have previously been presented to the user; and

display as the second video one of the videos in the set which have not been previously presented to the user.

41 . The system of claim 40 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

determine that the verbal input corresponds to an instruction to end the dialog;

wherein the processing circuitry performs the identifying and displaying in response to performing the determining.

42 . The system of claim 27 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

associate a rank for each of the plurality of stored clips of the media asset according to a level of interest to the user; and

determine which of the clips to display as the at least one clip based on the associated rank of the clips.

43 . The system of claim 42 wherein the determined clip is associated with a higher rank than all the other clips.

44 . The system of claim 42 , wherein the variable length sequence further comprises a second clip of the plurality of clips of the media asset, wherein the second clip follows the at least one clip and precedes the second video, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

detect a reaction of the user to the displayed at least one clip;

add to the variable length sequence a third video of the plurality of videos of the actor positioned after the at least one clip and before the second clip; and

determine which of the plurality of clips of the media asset to display as the second clip based on the reaction of the user.

45 . The system of claim 44 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

select a clip associated with a rank lower than the rank of the at least one clip when the reaction is positive; and

select a clip associated with a rank higher than the rank of the at least one clip when the reaction is negative.

46 . The system of claim 44 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

monitor verbal utterances made by the user while the first clip is displayed; and

determine whether the verbal utterances are associated with a negative or a positive reaction.

47 . The system of claim 46 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

maintain a user voice profile which includes a mapping between voice information associated with the user and negative or positive reactions.

48 . The system of claim 46 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

monitor the verbal utterances by detecting absence of expected verbal utterances at predetermined playback time periods of the first clip; and

verbal utterances are determined to be associated with a negative reaction when the absence of expected verbal utterances are detected.

49 . The system of claim 48 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to terminate playback of the first clip in response to detecting the absence of expected verbal utterances.

50 . The system of claim 27 wherein the plurality of clips of the media asset are short segments of one or more episodes of a show in which the actor is a character or short segments presented at some point within an instance of a show in which the actor is present.

51 . The system of claim 27 wherein each of the clips are longer in runtime than the videos of the actor by at least one order of magnitude.

52 . The system of claim 27 further comprising providing video and audio continuity between first and second videos of the actor.

53 - 78 . (canceled)