Systems and methods for creating an animation sequence representative of a modeled condition
Methods and systems for providing a local content to a viewer in the form of an animation sequence. A micro program may be data-cast to a receiver to provide national and local content to a number of receiver units that may be located at, e.g., a cable headend or other distribution point. The micro program executes, at least in part, on each receiver unit. If the micro program is relevant to the receiver unit, then the micro program executes to completion. The micro program may include a code representative of local conditions that is mapped by the local receiver unit to a library of animation graphics used to create an animation sequence to convey the local conditions to a viewer. For example, the local conditions may be weather conditions and the animation sequence conveys how the weather will feel or affect a viewer.
1. A method for providing an animation sequence representative of local weather conditions, comprising:
receiving a national program from a central system at a receiver unit as part of a data-cast;
extracting information from the national program, the information containing a code based on the local weather conditions, wherein the code is determined as a function of weights applied to respective weather conditions based on a statistical relevance of indicators associated with the respective weather conditions;
comparing the information to an identifier of the receiver unit to determine that the information pertains to the receiver unit, and in response to the determination,
retrieving animation graphics from a library of animation graphics, the animation graphics selected based on the code;
building an animation sequence from the animation graphics; and
outputting the animation sequence for display at a display device, wherein the animation sequence illustrates how the local weather conditions affect a viewer, the animation sequence comprising a dynamic representation of at least one of the local weather conditions acting on an object.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving the indicators in the national program at the receiver unit in place of the code; and
modeling the indicators at the receiver unit to determine the code.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating the animation sequence in one of a local forecast, 10-day forecast, hourly forecast, weather alert, marine forecast and multi-hour forecast.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining if an override value is specified at the receiver unit; and
accessing the library in accordance with the override value to retrieve second animation graphics.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing the animation graphics as reusable elements in the library; and
scripting the reusable elements in a sequence to create the animation sequence.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising superimposing the animation sequence on the national program to display both the national program and the local condition.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing the animation sequence during periods of only local programming.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the animation graphics through the data-cast from the central system.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing the animation sequence to one of a television display, an application running on a mobile device, and an application running on a general purpose computing device.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiver unit is located at a cable headend, the method further comprising providing the animation sequence from the headend to a set-top device to be displayed on the display device.
11. A method for producing an animation representative of local weather conditions, comprising:
receiving a data-cast from a central system at a receiver system, the data-cast including national content and information regarding the local weather conditions;
extracting the information regarding the local weather conditions from the data-cast, the information containing a code based on the local weather conditions, wherein the code is determined based on weights applied to respective weather conditions associated with the local weather conditions based on a statistical relevance of indicators associated with the respective weather conditions;
comparing the information to a receiver system configuration parameter to determine that the information is relevant to the receiver system, and in response to the determination:
sequencing animation graphics selected in accordance with the code to produce the animation; and
outputting the animation as part of a multimedia presentation that includes the national content and the local weather conditions, wherein the animation illustrates how the local weather conditions affect a viewer, the animation comprising a dynamic representation of at least one of the local weather conditions acting on an object.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising retrieving animation graphics from a library of animation graphics in accordance with the code.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
providing the animation graphics as reusable elements in a data store in the receiver system; and
sequencing the animation graphics in accordance with a script to create the animation.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising updating the animation graphics using a file transfer mechanism of the data-cast.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising wherein the multimedia presentation includes one of a local forecast, 10-day forecast, hourly forecast, weather alert, marine forecast and multi-hour forecast sequenced with the national content in accordance with a playlist.
16. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that when executed by a computing device perform the method, comprising:
receiving a data-cast from a central system at a receiver unit;
extracting information from the data-cast that includes a code based on local weather conditions, wherein the code is determined based on weights applied to respective weather conditions associated with the local weather conditions based on a statistical relevance of indicators associated with the respective weather conditions;
comparing the information to a receiver unit parameter to determine if the local weather conditions are relevant to the receiver unit, and if so,
building an animation from graphical elements stored in the receiver unit to represent the condition; and
outputting the animation as part of a media presentation for display at a display device, wherein the animation illustrates how the local weather conditions affect a viewer, the animation comprising a dynamic representation of at least one of the local weather conditions acting on an object.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions for:
receiving national content in the data-cast; and
providing the animation with information regarding the region to which the local weather conditions pertain together with the national content.
18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions for:
determining if an override value is specified at the receiver unit;
determining alternate graphical elements in accordance with the override; and building the animation including the alternate graphical elements.