System and methods to enhance interactive program watching
Systems and methods are provided for providing an enhanced viewing experience for one or more users of an interactive media program. One example method includes receiving, at a computing device, the interactive media program, wherein the interactive media program comprises a plurality of alternative segments followed by a common segment. A selection of a first alternative segment is received and is generated for output. A summary of at least one segment from the plurality of alternative segments is generated, and the summary is generated for output. The common segment of the interactive media program is generated for output.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a computing device, an interactive media program comprising a plurality of alternative segments followed by a common segment;
identifying, based on metadata associated with each segment of the plurality of alternative segments, that a first subset of the plurality of alternative segments are of a first type and that a second subset of the plurality of alternative segments are of a second type, wherein the first subset comprises at least a first alternative segment and a second alternative segment of the plurality of alternative segments and the second subset comprises at least a third alternative segment and a fourth alternative segment of the plurality of alternative segments;
identifying, based on a user preference generated from historic alternative segment selections associated with different interactive media programs, a preference for the first type;
generating, for output, a plurality of user interface elements associated with the first subset of the plurality of alternative segments, wherein user interface elements associated with the second subset of the plurality of alternative segments are not generated for output;
receiving a selection of a user interface element of the plurality of user interface elements; and
generating, for output, the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the method further comprises identifying two or more users accessing the interactive media program, and
the identifying the preference for the first type further comprises identifying the preference for the first type based on user preferences for each of at least two of the identified users.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the identifying the two or more users is performed via a capture device coupled to the computing device.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the selection is a first selection, the user interface element is a first user interface element and the method further comprises:
identifying one or more secondary computing devices;
generating, for output, a second user interface element associated with outputting the alternative segment at a secondary computing device;
receiving a second selection of the second user interface element associated with outputting the alternative segment at the secondary computing device; and
generating for output, at the secondary computing device, the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element associated with outputting the alternative segment at the secondary computing device.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first type and the second type are based on at least one of: one or more characters present in each alternative segment of the plurality of alternative segments, or a storyline followed in each alternative segment of the plurality of alternative segments.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the plurality of user interface elements for output further comprises generating an indication of a recommended alternative segment based on the user preference.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of user interface elements comprises a first set of user interface elements and a second set of user interface elements; and
generating the plurality of user interface elements for output further comprises generating the first set of user interface elements for output at the computing device and generating the second set of user interface elements for output at a secondary computing device.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the plurality of user interface elements for output further comprises generating an indication of a duration of the segment associated with each user interface element of the plurality of user interface elements.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
receiving the selection of the user interface element further comprises receiving the selection of a first user interface element and a second user interface element;
the method further comprises:
generating, for output, a first segment of a first duration, based on the selected first user interface element, and a second segment of a second duration, based on the selected second user interface element, wherein the second segment is altered so that a duration of the second segment is the same as the first duration.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a duration of the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element;
altering, based on a preset duration, the duration of the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element; and wherein:
generating, for output, the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element further comprises generating the alternative segment with the altered duration for output.
11. A system comprising:
input circuitry configured to:
receive, at a computing device, an interactive media program comprising a plurality of alternative segments followed by a common segment;
processing circuitry configured to:
identify, based on metadata associated with each segment of the plurality of alternative segments, that a first subset of the plurality of alternative segments are of a first type and that a second subset of the plurality of alternative segments are of a second type, wherein the first subset comprises at least a first alternative segment and a second alternative segment of the plurality of alternative segments and the second subset comprises at least a third alternative segment and a fourth alternative segment of the plurality of alternative segments;
identify, based on a user preference generated from historic alternative segment selections associated with different interactive media programs, a preference for the first type;
generate, for output, a plurality of user interface elements associated with the first subset of the plurality of alternative segments, wherein user interface elements associated with the second subset of the plurality of alternative segments are not generated for output; and
the input circuitry further configured to:
receive a selection of a user interface element of the plurality of user interface elements; and
the processing circuitry further configured to:
generate, for output, the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein:
the processing circuitry is further configured to identify two or more users accessing the interactive media program, and
the processing circuitry configured to identify the preference for the first type is further configured to identify the preference for the first type based on user preferences for each of at least two of the identified users.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuitry configured to identify the two or more users is further configured to identify the two or more users via a capture device coupled to the computing device.
14. The system of claim 12 , wherein:
the selection is a first selection, the user interface element is a first user interface element and the processing circuitry is further configured to:
identify one or more secondary computing devices; and
generate, for output, a second user interface element associated with outputting the alternative segment at a secondary computing device;
the input circuitry is further configured to:
receive a second selection of the second user interface element associated with outputting the alternative segment at the secondary computing device; and
the processing circuitry is further configured to:
generate for output, at the secondary computing device, the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element associated with outputting the alternative segment at the secondary computing device.
15. The system of claim 11 , wherein each of the first type and the second type are based on at least one of: one or more characters present in each alternative segment of the plurality of alternative segments, or a storyline followed in each alternative segment of the plurality of alternative segments.
16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processing circuitry configured to generate the plurality of user interface elements for output is further configured to generate an indication of a recommended alternative segment based on the user preference.
17. The system of claim 11 , wherein:
the plurality of user interface elements comprises a first set of user interface elements and a second set of user interface elements; and
the processing circuitry configured to generate the plurality of user interface elements for output is further configured to generate the first set of user interface elements for output at the computing device and the second set of user interface elements for output at a secondary computing device.
18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processing circuitry configured to generate the plurality of user interface elements for output is further configured to generate an indication of a duration of the segment associated with each user interface element of the plurality of user interface elements.
19. The system of claim 11 , wherein:
the input circuitry configured to receive the selection of the user interface element is further configured to receive the selection of a first user interface element and a second user interface element; and
the processing circuitry is further configured to generate, for output, a first segment of a first duration, based on the selected first user interface element, and a second segment of a second duration, based on the selected second user interface element, wherein the second segment is altered so that a duration of the second segment is the same as the first duration.
20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
identify a duration of the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element;
alter, based on a preset duration, the duration of the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element; and wherein:
the processing circuitry configured to generate, for output, the alternative segment associated with the selected user interface element is further configured to generate the alternative segment with the altered duration for output.