IP Library Granted Patent US 10,674,208
Granted Patent B2
US 10,674,208 · App. 16/169,453 · Granted Jun 2, 2020

Methods and systems for automatically evaluating an audio description track of a media asset

Inventors: William L. Thomas (Evergreen, CO); Ajit Shanware (Cupertino, CA)
Assignee: Rovi Guides, Inc.
H04N21/44213G06F40/247G10L25/51H04N21/233H04N21/234H04N21/234318H04N21/435H04N21/4394H04N21/44008H04N21/4756H04N21/8106H04N21/83H04N21/84
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,674,208
App. No.
16/169,453
Granted
Jun 2, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods and systems for automatically evaluating an audio description track of a media asset include initializing a rating of an audio description track of a media asset to a default value; receiving a first video frame and a second video frame of the media asset; detecting an object in the first video frame and the second video frame; determining that a difference in a characteristic of the object between the first video frame and the second video frame exceeds a threshold difference; determining that an audio characteristic in a portion of the audio description track that corresponds to the first video frame and the second video frame exceeds a threshold audio characteristic; and increasing the rating of the audio description track by a unit.

Claims (78)

1. A method for automatically evaluating an audio description track of a media asset, the method comprising:

receiving a first video frame and a second video frame of the media asset;

detecting an object in the first video frame;

determining whether a characteristic of the object in the first video frame is different from the characteristic of an object in the second video frame, wherein an audio description track provides audio descriptions of visual events occurring in the media asset;

in response to determining that the characteristic of the object in the first video frame is different from the characteristic of the object in the second video frame, determining whether a portion of the audio description track that corresponds to at least the second video frame includes an audio characteristic; and

in response to determining that the portion of the audio description track includes the audio characteristic, adjusting a rating of the audio description track.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to determining that the portion of the audio description track does not include the audio characteristic, generating audio content, in the portion of the audio description track, the audio content corresponding to at least one of the object or the characteristic of the object.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the object in the first video frame comprises:

detecting a first object and a second object in the first video frame;

determining a first subset of a plurality of pixels of a display screen in which the first object occurs in the first video frame;

determining a second subset of the plurality of pixels in which the second object occurs in the first video frame;

determining that a number of pixels in the first subset is greater than a number of pixels in the second subset; and

selecting the first object to be the object.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the object in the first video frame comprises:

detecting a first object and a second object in the first video frame;

receiving metadata associated with the first video frame;

detecting an identifier of the first object in the metadata; and

selecting the first object to be the object.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first object is a character, and detecting the identifier of the first object in the metadata comprises detecting at least one of a name of the character or an actor who plays the character.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the characteristic of the object in the first video frame is different from the characteristic of the object in the second video frame comprises determining a difference in a position of the object between the first video frame and the second video frame.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the difference in the position of the object between the first video frame and the second video frame comprises:

assigning an address to each pixel of a plurality of pixels of a display screen, wherein each address comprises a horizontal address corresponding to a horizontal position on the display screen of each pixel and a vertical address corresponding to a vertical position on the display screen of each pixel;

determining a first subset of the plurality of pixels in which the object occurs in the first video frame;

determining a second subset of the plurality of pixels in which the object occurs in the second video frame;

calculating a first horizontal mean, wherein the first horizontal mean corresponds to a mean of horizontal addresses of the first subset;

calculating a first vertical mean, wherein the first vertical mean corresponds to a mean of vertical addresses of the first subset;

calculating a second horizontal mean, wherein the second horizontal mean corresponds to a mean of horizontal addresses of the second subset;

calculating a second vertical mean, wherein the second vertical mean corresponds to a mean of vertical addresses of the second subset;

subtracting the second horizontal mean from the first horizontal mean to obtain a horizontal difference;

subtracting the second vertical mean from the first vertical mean to obtain a vertical difference; and

determining the difference in the position of the object based on at least one of the horizontal difference or the vertical difference exceeding a predetermined difference.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the portion of the audio description track that corresponds to at least the second video frame includes the audio characteristic comprises determining a volume of audio content in the portion of the audio description track.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the portion of the audio description track that corresponds to at least the second video frame includes the audio characteristic comprises:

identifying the object with an identifier;

accessing a database of synonyms;

retrieving from the database a plurality of keywords for the identifier, wherein the keywords are synonyms for the identifier; and

determining a number of times in which a keyword of the plurality of keywords or the identifier occurs in the portion of the audio description track.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating for display an indication of the rating including at least one of a word, icon, size of a listing, color of the listing, or presence of the listing corresponding to the rating.

11. A system for automatically evaluating an audio description track of a media asset, the system comprising:

communication circuitry; and

control circuitry configured to:

receive, via the communication circuitry, a first video frame and a second video frame of the media asset;

detect an object in the first video frame;

determine whether a characteristic of the object in the first video frame is different from the characteristic of an object in the second video frame, wherein an audio description track provides audio descriptions of visual events occurring in the media asset;

in response to determining that the characteristic of the object in the first video frame is different from the characteristic of the object in the second video frame, determine whether a portion of an audio description track that corresponds to at least the second video frame includes an audio characteristic; and

in response to determining that the portion of the audio description track includes the audio characteristic, adjust a rating of the audio description track.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to, in response to determining that the portion of the audio description track does not include the audio characteristic, generate audio content, in the portion of the audio description track, the audio content corresponding to at least one of the object or the characteristic of the object.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry, when detecting the object in the first video frame, is configured to:

detect a first object and a second object in the first video frame;

determine a first subset of a plurality of pixels of a display screen in which the first object occurs in the first video frame;

determine a second subset of the plurality of pixels in which the second object occurs in the first video frame;

determine that a number of pixels in the first subset is greater than a number of pixels in the second subset; and

select the first object to be the object.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry, when detecting the object in the first video frame, is configured to:

detect a first object and a second object in the first video frame;

receive metadata associated with the first video frame;

detect an identifier of the first object in the metadata; and

select the first object to be the object.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first object is a character, and the control circuitry, when detecting the identifier of the first object in the metadata, is configured to detect at least one of a name of the character or an actor who plays the character.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry, when determining whether the characteristic of the object in the first video frame is different from the characteristic of the object in the second video frame, is configured to determine a difference in a position of the object between the first video frame and the second video frame.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the control circuitry, when determining the difference in the position of the object between the first video frame and the second video frame, is configured to:

assign an address to each pixel of a plurality of pixels of a display screen, wherein each address comprises a horizontal address corresponding to a horizontal position on the display screen of each pixel and a vertical address corresponding to a vertical position on the display screen of each pixel;

determine a first subset of the plurality of pixels in which the object occurs in the first video frame;

determine a second subset of the plurality of pixels in which the object occurs in the second video frame;

calculate a first horizontal mean, wherein the first horizontal mean corresponds to a mean of horizontal addresses of the first subset;

calculate a first vertical mean, wherein the first vertical mean corresponds to a mean of vertical addresses of the first subset;

calculate a second horizontal mean, wherein the second horizontal mean corresponds to a mean of horizontal addresses of the second subset;

calculate a second vertical mean, wherein the second vertical mean corresponds to a mean of vertical addresses of the second subset;

subtract the second horizontal mean from the first horizontal mean to obtain a horizontal difference;

subtract the second vertical mean from the first vertical mean to obtain a vertical difference; and

determine the difference in the position of the object based on at least one of the horizontal difference or the vertical difference exceeding a predetermined difference.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry, when determining whether the portion of the audio description track that corresponds to at least the second video frame includes the audio characteristic is configured to determine a volume of audio content in the portion of the audio description track.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry, when determining whether the portion of the audio description track that corresponds to at least the second video frame includes the audio characteristic is configured to:

identify the object with an identifier;

access a database of synonyms;

retrieve from the database a plurality of keywords for the identifier, wherein the keywords are synonyms for the identifier; and

determine a number of times in which a keyword of the plurality of keywords or the identifier occurs in the portion of the audio description track.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate for display an indication of the rating including at least one of a word, icon, size of a listing, color of the listing, or presence of the listing corresponding to the rating.

Assignments (7)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Oct 2, 2024
From: ROVI GUIDES, INC.
To: ADEIA GUIDES INC.
Reel/Frame 069085/0755 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
To: ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION; ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION; ROVI GUIDES, INC.; TIVO SOLUTIONS, INC.; VEVEO, INC.
Reel/Frame 053481/0790 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: HPS INVESTMENT PARTNERS, LLC
To: ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION; ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION; ROVI GUIDES, INC.; TIVO SOLUTIONS, INC.; VEVEO, INC.
Reel/Frame 053458/0749 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 1, 2020
From: ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION; ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION; ROVI GUIDES, INC.; TIVO SOLUTIONS INC.; VEVEO, INC.; INVENSAS CORPORATION; INVENSAS BONDING TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; TESSERA, INC.; TESSERA ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DTS, INC.; PHORUS, INC.; IBIQUITY DIGITAL CORPORATION
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053468/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 25, 2019
From: ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION; ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION; ROVI GUIDES, INC.; TIVO SOLUTIONS, INC.; VEVEO, INC.
To: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 051110/0006 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 22, 2019
From: ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION; ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION; ROVI GUIDES, INC.; TIVO SOLUTIONS, INC.; VEVEO, INC.
To: HPS INVESTMENT PARTNERS, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 051143/0468 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 25, 2018
From: THOMAS, WILLIAM L.; SHANWARE, AJIT
To: ROVI GUIDES, INC.
Reel/Frame 047306/0913 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 15685126 · Aug 24, 2017
Continuation 15223847 · Jul 29, 2016
Related Publication 20190069023A1 · Feb 28, 2019
Cited By (1)
US 12,231,865