Method and System for Providing Virtual Co-Presence to Broadcast Audiences in an Online Broadcasting System

Abstract

There is provided an online broadcasting system for providing virtual co-presence to broadcast audiences. The online broadcasting system may comprise a plurality of user terminals, a user reaction processing server and a broadcast server configured to transmit broadcast program data to the user terminals. The user terminals may be configured to: display a broadcast program based on the broadcast program data; receive individual user reaction data from a user input interface; and transmit the received individual user reaction data to the broadcast server. The user reaction processing server may be configured to: receive the individual user reaction data from each of the user terminals; aggregate the individual user reaction data to create total user reaction data based on the received individual user reaction data; generate interface control data based on the total user reaction data, wherein the interface control data, when executed, is operative to cause a client application to generate output indicative of the total user reaction data; and transmit the generated interface control data to at least one of the user terminals.

1 - 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . A method comprising:
 transmitting, by a server computer, a broadcast program to a plurality of user terminals;
 receiving, by the server computer from the plurality of user terminals, individual user reaction data, the individual user reaction data generated at each of the plurality of user terminals in relation to the broadcast program, the individual user reaction data comprising user reaction to the broadcast program, the individual user reaction data comprising a plurality of individual user reaction fields, each individual user reaction field corresponding to a user reaction icon and comprising a flag indicating whether the corresponding user reaction icon has been selected by the user; 
 aggregating, by the server computer, the individual user reaction data to create total user reaction data based on the flags of the individual user reaction fields; 
 generating, by the server computer, interface control data based on the total user reaction data, wherein the interface control data, when executed, is operative to cause a client application to generate output indicative of the total user reaction data; and 
 transmitting, by the server computer, the generated interface control data to a user terminal in the plurality of user terminals. 
   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the user reaction icon comprises a predetermined reaction the users may express in response to the broadcast program. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the user reaction icon comprises an icon selected from a group of icon types consisting of a hooting icon, a cheering icon, and an applauding icon. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein when a user of the user terminal selects the user reaction icon, the user terminal generates the individual user reaction data. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the flag is set to ‘1’ when the user reaction icon has been selected by the user. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the flag is set to ‘0’ when the user reaction icon has not been selected by the user. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising periodically collecting the individual user reaction data for a time interval of a predetermined length. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the total user reaction data reflects reactions from a plurality of users operating the plurality of user terminals in response to the broadcast program for a predetermined time interval. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the aggregating of the individual user reaction data to create total user reaction data based on the flags of the individual user reaction fields further comprises generating the total user reaction data by calculating a total user reaction number for each of the user reaction fields. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the calculating of the total user reaction number comprises calculating a number of the individual user reaction data with the flag of the corresponding user reaction field set to ‘1’. 
     
     
         36 . A computing device comprising:
 a processor;   a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising:
 broadcast program transmitting logic executed by the processor for transmitting a broadcast program to a plurality of user terminals; 
 receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving, from the plurality of user terminals, individual user reaction data, the individual user reaction data generated at each of the plurality of user terminals in relation to the broadcast program, the individual user reaction data comprising user reaction to the broadcast program, the individual user reaction data comprising a plurality of individual user reaction fields, each individual user reaction field corresponding to a user reaction icon and comprising a flag indicating whether the corresponding user reaction icon has been selected by the user; 
 aggregating logic executed by the processor for aggregating the individual user reaction data to create total user reaction data based on the flags of the individual user reaction fields; 
 generating logic executed by the processor for generating interface control data based on the total user reaction data, wherein the interface control data, when executed, is operative to cause a client application to generate output indicative of the total user reaction data; and 
 control data transmitting logic executed by the processor for transmitting the generated interface control data to a user terminal in the plurality of user terminals. 
   
     
     
         37 . The computing device of  claim 36 , wherein the user reaction icon comprises a predetermined reaction the users may express in response to the broadcast program. 
     
     
         38 . The computing device of  claim 36 , wherein the user reaction icon comprises an icon selected from a group of icon types consisting of a hooting icon, a cheering icon, and an applauding icon. 
     
     
         39 . The computing device of  claim 36 , wherein when a user of the user terminal selects the user reaction icon, the user terminal generates the individual user reaction data. 
     
     
         40 . The computing device of  claim 36 , wherein the flag is set to ‘1’ when the user reaction icon has been selected by the user. 
     
     
         41 . The computing device of  claim 36 , wherein the flag is set to ‘0’ when the user reaction icon has not been selected by the user. 
     
     
         42 . The computing device of  claim 36 , wherein the total user reaction data reflects reactions from a plurality of users operating the plurality of user terminals in response to the broadcast program for a predetermined time interval. 
     
     
         43 . The computing device of  claim 36 , wherein the aggregating logic further comprises user reaction data generating logic executed by the processor for generating the total user reaction data by calculating a total user reaction number for each of the user reaction fields. 
     
     
         44 . The computing device of  claim 43 , wherein the calculating of the total user reaction number comprises calculating logic executed by the processor for calculating a number of the individual user reaction data with the flag of the corresponding user reaction field set to ‘1’. 
     
     
         45 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code in the medium for causing a processor to execute computer instructions, the instructions comprising:
 transmitting, by the processor, a broadcast program to a plurality of user terminals;   receiving, by the processor from the plurality of user terminals, individual user reaction data, the individual user reaction data generated at each of the plurality of user terminals in relation to the broadcast program, the individual user reaction data comprising user reaction to the broadcast program, the individual user reaction data comprising a plurality of individual user reaction fields, each individual user reaction field corresponding to a user reaction icon and comprising a flag indicating whether the corresponding user reaction icon has been selected by the user;   aggregating, by the processor, the individual user reaction data to create total user reaction data based on the flags of the individual user reaction fields;   generating, by the processor, interface control data based on the total user reaction data, wherein the interface control data, when executed, is operative to cause a client application to generate output indicative of the total user reaction data; and   transmitting, by the processor, the generated interface control data to a user terminal in the plurality of user terminals.