Found a couple recent patent applications for what looks like the AutoHop feature. It looks like a pretty slick idea, apparently utilizing Closed Captioning data and other metadata to break up the desired video and interstitials (today's Word of the Day):
METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR FILTERING CONTENT IN A VIDEO STREAM USING CLOSED CAPTIONING DATA - Patent application
METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING INTERSTITIAL BREAKS IN A PROGRESS BAR OF A VIDEO STREAM - Patent application
Abstract:
Various embodiments of apparatus and/or methods are described for skipping and/or filtering content from a video stream using closed captioning data associated with the video stream. The closed captioning data is parsed using metadata to identify portions of the video stream to skip during presentation, and/or to identify portions of the video stream to output to a user. The portions of the video stream that are to be skipped are filtered from the video stream, and the filtered video stream is presented to a user.
Claims:
1. A method for filtering a video stream, the method comprising: receiving a video stream including at least one segment of a show, at least one interstitial of the show, and closed captioning data associated with the video stream; receiving metadata referencing the closed captioning data to identify at least one anchor frame within the video stream, the metadata comprising a displayable text string included within the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider, a first offset, relative to the anchor frame, that identifies a beginning of the at least one segment, a second offset, relative to the anchor frame, that identifies an ending of the at least one segment; parsing the closed captioning data associated with the video stream to locate the anchor frame corresponding with the presentation of the displayable text string located in the closed captioning data recorded; identifying the boundaries of the at least one segment of the show based on the anchor frame and the first and second offsets; filtering the at least one interstitial from the video stream based on the identified boundaries to generate a filtered video stream; and outputting the filtered video stream for presentation to a user.
METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR FILTERING CONTENT IN A VIDEO STREAM USING CLOSED CAPTIONING DATA - Patent application
Abstract:
Various embodiments of apparatus and/or methods are described for presenting information regarding interstitials of a video stream. A recording of a television show may include segments of the show interspersed with interstitials (e.g., commercials). The location of the interstitials within the recording is identified, and the locations of the interstitials are presented in progress bar during presentation of the video stream. The location of the interstitials may also be utilized to determine durations of the interstitials, and provide a user with information regarding the lengths of the interstitials of a recording, and/or the length of the other content of a recording (e.g., segments of a television show).
Claims:
1. A method for providing a user with locations of interstitials in a video stream of a show, the method comprising: receiving a video stream including at least one segment of a show, at least one interstitial of the show, and closed captioning data associated with the video stream; receiving metadata referencing the closed captioning data to identify at least one anchor frame within the video stream, the metadata comprising a displayable text string included within the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider, a first offset, relative to the anchor frame, that identifies a beginning of the at least one segment, a second offset, relative to the anchor frame, that identifies an ending of the at least one segment; parsing the closed captioning data associated with the video stream to locate the anchor frame corresponding with the presentation of the displayable text string located in the closed captioning data recorded; identifying the boundaries of the at least one segment of the show based on the anchor frame and the first and second offsets; identifying a location of the at least one interstitial based on the boundaries; outputting the video stream for presentation to a user; and outputting a progress bar during output of the video stream that indicates the location of the at least one interstitial within the recording and a duration of the at least one interstitial.
METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING INTERSTITIAL BREAKS IN A PROGRESS BAR OF A VIDEO STREAM - Patent application