Synchronization of user interactive events with on-screen events during playback of multimedia stream

Abstract

A method includes receiving, at a multimedia device, a data stream representing multimedia content, the data stream comprising first timing information for the multimedia content, and metadata representing interactive event information associated with the multimedia content, the metadata comprising second timing information for the interactive event information. During the playback of the multimedia content, a first user interactive event is identified that is associated with a first time point in the playback of the multimedia content based on the interactive event information, and the first user interactive event is performed concurrent with the first time point in the playback of the multimedia content.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 encoding, by a system comprising a processor, multimedia data representing multimedia content to provide a data stream to a recipient device, wherein the encoding comprises inserting a first plurality of timing indicators into the data stream,   identifying, by the system, a plurality of events in the multimedia content and a corresponding plurality of time points in the multimedia data;   determining, by the system, interactive event information for each of the plurality of events;   generating, by the system, metadata associated with the multimedia content, the metadata comprising the interactive event information and a second plurality of timing indicators for the respective time points,   wherein the first plurality of timing indicators are inserted at substantially equal intervals in the data stream, and   wherein the recipient device performs a first interactive event based on the interactive event information for the first interactive event, responsive to determining during playback of the multimedia content that the playback is approaching a first time point based on a first timing indicator of the second plurality of timing indicators.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising accessing the multimedia data from a storage component of the system. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the accessing and the encoding are performed responsive to a triggering event. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of timing indicators are inserted into respective headers of a plurality of packets of the data stream. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of timing indicators comprise relative time indicators referencing an elapsed time from a start of the playback of the multimedia content. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein performance of the first interactive event comprises a display of video content at a display device coupled to the recipient device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multimedia content comprises a recording of a live activity. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein determining the interactive event information comprises obtaining measurement data relating to the activity. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of timing indicators and the second plurality of timing indicators are synchronized to coordinated universal time. 
     
     
         10 . A server comprising:
 a memory to store instructions; and   a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor, responsive to executing the instructions, performs operations comprising:   accessing multimedia data from a storage component coupled to the server;   encoding multimedia data representing multimedia content to provide a data stream to a media processor in communication with the server, wherein the encoding comprises inserting a first plurality of timing indicators into the data stream;   identifying a plurality of events in the multimedia content and a corresponding plurality of time points in the multimedia data;   determining interactive event information for each of the plurality of events;   generating metadata associated with the multimedia content, the metadata comprising the interactive event information and a second plurality of timing indicators for the respective time points,   wherein the first plurality of timing indicators are inserted into respective headers of a plurality of packets of the data stream at substantially equal intervals in the data stream,   wherein the media processor performs interactive events based on the interactive event information in conjunction with presenting the multimedia content, and   wherein the interactive events are synchronized to the events in the multimedia content during playback of the multimedia content based on the first plurality of timing indicators and the second plurality of timing indicators.   
     
     
         11 . The server of  claim 10 , wherein the accessing and the encoding are performed responsive to a triggering event. 
     
     
         12 . The server of  claim 10 , wherein the first plurality of timing indicators comprise relative time indicators referencing an elapsed time from a start of a playback of the multimedia content. 
     
     
         13 . The server of  claim 10 , wherein performance of an interactive event comprises a display of video content at a display device coupled to the media processor. 
     
     
         14 . The server of  claim 10 , wherein the multimedia content comprises a recording of a live activity. 
     
     
         15 . The server of  claim 14 , wherein determining the interactive event information comprises obtaining measurement data relating to the activity. 
     
     
         16 . A machine-readable storage device comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 encoding multimedia data representing multimedia content to provide a data stream to a recipient device in communication with the processor, wherein the encoding comprises inserting a first plurality of timing indicators into the data stream;   identifying a plurality of events in the multimedia content and a corresponding plurality of time points in the multimedia data;   determining interactive event information for each of the plurality of events;   generating metadata associated with the multimedia content, the metadata comprising the interactive event information and a second plurality of timing indicators for the respective time points,   wherein the first plurality of timing indicators are inserted into respective headers of a plurality of packets of the data stream at substantially equal intervals in the data stream, and   wherein the recipient device performs interactive events based on the interactive event information in conjunction with presenting the multimedia content.   
     
     
         17 . The machine-readable storage device of  claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise accessing the multimedia data from a storage component coupled to the processor. 
     
     
         18 . The machine-readable storage device of  claim 16 , wherein the first plurality of timing indicators comprise relative time indicators referencing an elapsed time from a start of a playback of the multimedia content. 
     
     
         19 . The machine-readable storage device of  claim 16 , wherein the multimedia content comprises a recording of a live activity. 
     
     
         20 . The machine-readable storage device of  claim 19 , wherein determining the interactive event information comprises obtaining measurement data relating to the activity.