BACKGROUND

Media can be viewed in different environments. Viewing media is often a shared experience that can occur in person or remotely. For example, several friends may watch media together in person, or separately, and communicate about the media. Some viewers may have augmented reality devices that can be used to provide a modified or enhanced version of a media display. For example, certain elements in media may be tailored to a user's preferences to provide a more interesting or exciting experience. In some scenarios, there may be additional information provided to some users, or certain options provided to some users. When viewing media is a shared experience with multiple viewers, any viewers that do not have an augmented reality device may miss some of these enhancements and only see original or base media content. When viewers of augmented reality devices may discuss the enhanced features or have access to additional media content via the augmented reality device, viewers without such content and access may feel that their media experience has been limited. Providing the augmented reality display enhancements to a viewer without an augmented reality device may improve the non-augmented reality viewer's media experience and allow him or her to participate in some of the features of an augmented reality environment.

SUMMARY

The advancement of media devices, in particular, augmented reality (“AR”) devices, and connectivity among such devices, as well as digital transmission of media content, has increased the amount of data that can be transmitted from and shared between various devices. Augmented reality is a modified version of reality that can include enhanced information overlaid over views of the real world. The AR views can also be overlaid onto media displays. In general, augmented reality environments can be accessed using dedicated devices such as smart glasses and headsets. Augmented reality environments can also be accessed using an application on a multi-use portable device, such as a smartphone or tablet. The augmented reality environment may access information associated with a media asset to provide enhanced AR features with the media asset. In some scenarios, a media asset may have information ready for use by an AR device. In other scenarios, the AR device may analyze the media images, using a computer or a processor, to identify those that may be relevant or suitable for generating AR content.

When a user does not have an AR device, his or her display screen may be a base or non-augmented reality display. Such types of displays are similar to conventional media displays on televisions, monitors, and other types of screens. Such displays may have typical media features but do not have the enhanced AR features provided by an AR device or application. In some group viewing experiences, for example, on an airplane or bus, or in a movie theater or screening room, media may be displayed on a screen that can be viewed with an AR device. Any viewers without an AR device will simply view the regular screen display. Other viewers that have an AR device or application may view the same screen and be able to see augmented reality features provided by their AR devices or applications. Such features may be theme-based, such as a branded event; other features may be related to the viewer and provide content that is interesting to the individual viewer. For example, in a screening room showing an AR-enhanced movie, special cuts, messages, photos, 3-D characters, or other features may appear in an AR display. Some of those features may be interactive so that the AR user can interact with the features. Sharing those features with the non-AR users may provide an improved media viewing experience to the non-AR device users. For example, the non-AR users may see content that has been tailored to appeal to certain users. In particular, the selected AR featured content may have been tailored to several or a majority of viewers so that it is likely to be interesting and relevant to a larger audience. By sharing such features with the non-AR users, those viewers may be able to see and experience the enhanced features and media content.

Accordingly, to make up for a viewer's lack of AR device or application, AR features may be shared and provided for a non-AR display of media by collecting and analyzing AR features provided in an AR display for the media and overlaying those on the non-AR media display. For example, a media guidance application may be used to retrieve information from AR devices for a media display and detect any AR features and interactions in the AR device that can be applied to the non-AR display. Providing the AR features in the non-AR display can enhance the viewing experience of a viewer without an AR device or application because the non-AR viewer will be able to see in his or her non-AR display additional features and content that has been added to enhance an AR display. The media guidance application may select certain AR enhancements that are viewed or used by several or a majority of AR viewers so that the enhancements can be known to be interesting or relevant to a larger group of viewers.

In an example, a media guidance application may be used to generate a display of media in a non-augmented reality display. The media display may include information associated with a media asset and may be provided in a non-augmented reality display. The display may be generated on any type of display screen such as a television, tablet, mobile device, computer monitor, or other screen. The media guidance application may provide in AR devices, a display of the media. In particular, the media guidance application may provide information about the media asset in an AR display. The AR display may be provided in several AR devices or interfaces. And in each of the AR displays, additional information about the media asset may be provided by the media guidance application based on a user preference for the respective user using the AR device. The media guidance application may retrieve information about the additional information supplied to each of the AR devices to determine a common element of the additional information. For example, the media guidance application may collect information about the features and enhancements supplied in an AR setting to several users and determine which of those features have common elements. Since the additional information is supplied based on each respective user's preferences, each user could have a very different AR display for the same media. However, some elements of each user's AR display may overlap or have common elements. The media guidance application may retrieve information about the AR displays to identify such common elements. When the AR device users interact with the AR devices and the AR feature for the media, such interactions may be retrieved by the media guidance application. For example, in a display of media information about a sporting event, users may see AR features corresponding to their favorite players, and the AR users may seek information about players or game scores, or perform other interactions with the AR features. The interactions performed by the AR users may be analyzed by the media guidance application to identify a common interaction. The media guidance application may then update the base, or non-augmented reality display of information, with the common elements and common interactions that were identified from the AR devices.

In an example, friends may watch a sporting event together and some may have AR headsets or use a smartphone AR application to access AR features for the sporting event. Some of the friends may not have AR devices and so those friends must watch the sporting event in a non-AR display. Each of the users with AR devices or AR applications may have preferences for players and teams in the sporting event, and so each of those users may have an enhanced AR display shown in his or her respective AR device that includes features relevant to the user. A media guidance application may communicate with the AR devices and the non-AR device(s), for example, using a network, to obtain information from each device. The media guidance application may retrieve information from the AR devices to determine which features were added to the AR device displays. If the users interact with the AR devices to select information about the sporting event or players, the media guidance application may also retrieve information about those interactions. The media guidance application may analyze the AR features and interactions for all of the viewers and identify common elements that may appeal to the viewers that do not have AR devices or applications and select those AR features to replace information in the non-augmented reality display of the sporting event. For example, certain players may be highlighted or team colors or mascots may be presented in the non-augmented reality display. In addition, an AR viewer may select that scores or standings are displayed. Such information could be added to a non-AR display. In another example, an AR viewer may select to view a picture-in-picture display of a second sporting event in order to view two games at the same time. Such content could be displayed in the non-AR display. In another example, an AR viewer may select background information, including, for example, links to video clips with outtakes or cast interviews, or text-based information about the cast, which may be displayed in the non-AR display. Such interactions selected by the AR viewer may be added to the non-AR display by the media guidance application in order to provide a more interesting viewing experience to the non-AR viewer. The selected interactions used to update a non-AR display may be ones accessed or used by more than one AR viewer in order to ensure that the interactions are suitable or relevant to a larger audience.

In an illustrative example, methods and systems for displaying information about media content using augmented reality may include retrieving, using control circuitry, from a media database, information associated with a media asset. For example, metadata and details about a media asset may be retrieved by a media guidance application from a media database. The media guidance application control circuitry may be used to generate a non-augmented reality display of the information associated with the media asset. The display may include, for example, the media asset and listings or media information to include with the media asset. Additional displays with AR features for the media asset may be generated by the media guidance application as well. The media guidance application, using control circuitry, may retrieve additional information about the media asset based on user preferences for users of AR devices. The media guidance application may provide in the AR devices an AR display of the information for the media asset including additional information for the media asset that is based on a user preference for the respective user of the AR device. Thus, for a group of AR users, the media guidance application may retrieve information about a media asset that is relevant to each of the AR users based on his or her respective user preferences and generate an AR display for each of the AR users that includes additional information that is relevant to the respective user. The media guidance application may analyze the additional information that is provided for each of the AR users to identify a common element among the additional information. For example, in a television show listing, actor information, pictures of actors, or certain shows may be highlighted within the listings based on a user preference. Each version of the AR-enhanced television show listings in each of the AR devices may include different highlights and features depending on the viewer's preferences for the same television show listings. The media guidance application may analyze the additional information and features provided in the AR displays to identify common elements among the additional information. For example, several displays may highlight one very popular show that is featured for viewers. In another example, some displays may include a picture of a favorite actor that is a favorite of many viewers. Additional information that is a common element for at least two AR displays may be selected using the media guidance application control circuitry. In addition, the media guidance application control circuitry may track interactions by the AR viewers. For example, a viewer may select a television show from the listings to view, select a listing to obtain further information about the show, interact with an actor's avatar in the listing, or select another interaction in the AR display. Such interactions may be detected by the media guidance application using the control circuitry to identify a common interaction across the AR devices. The common interaction and common element identified by the media guidance application may be used to update the non-augmented reality display of information. Thus, common features and interactions used in an AR context may be applied to a non-AR display so that viewers without an AR device or application can experience enhanced features that are seen and used by other viewers of the same base media.

In some scenarios, the interaction with the media information selected as the common interaction may be an interaction that is performed with the information or the additional AR information associated with the media asset by a majority of the AR device users. Interactions that are performed by many AR users may be considered more interesting and relevant to the wider audience of non-AR device users. The interactions may be analyzed by the media guidance application by caching metadata associated with interactions. The metadata for the interactions may include an identifier for the media asset associated with the interaction and a media option for the interaction. Thus, the media guidance application can cache data to analyze which media asset was implicated in the interaction and what action was taken in the interaction. The metadata may be analyzed to identify the interaction based on the media asset as well as the media option. In an example, interactions may be analyzed by what the media is and what the action is. Interactions where users select a viewing media option include the media asset so that even if multiple users are choosing to view media, the interaction needs to occur with respect to the same media asset for it to be considered common among the users. Similarly, an action to seek details about an actor may be tied to the media asset.

A common AR element identified by the media guidance application to apply in an update to a non-augmented reality display may be selected based on an element of additional information that is supplied to a majority of the AR users of the AR devices. For example, if a majority of the AR users have a preference for a particular television show and program listings including the show highlight the particular show, that common element of highlighting the show may be selected as a common element used to update a non-AR display. The media guidance application may select the common element by analyzing metadata for the additional information supplied to each of the respective AR devices. In some scenarios, the media guidance application may check that the common element is suitable for general audiences. For example, in an environment on an airplane or bus, or in a public forum, the common element should not be one that is not suitable for all eyes. The media guidance application control circuitry may retrieve metadata associated with the common element to identify a parental control rating for the common element. If the element of additional information has a parental control rating for a general audience and has been provided for a majority of the users of the AR devices, it may be selected as the common element to apply to the non-augmented reality display. In another scenario, there may be multiple elements of additional information supplied to the AR devices. In this case, the media guidance application control circuitry may cache metadata associated with the additional information provided for each of the AR displays. The metadata may be analyzed to identify a characteristic of the additional information and the media asset. For example, the media guidance application may analyze the metadata for the additional information to determine whether it is, for example, related to a cast member for a show, a team or player in a sporting event, or other category of information that has been added to an AR display based on a user preference. The characteristic of the additional information may be helpful in determining which of the additional AR features is most broadly interesting to the majority of the viewers. Thus, in some scenarios, a common element may be selected if it is used for the same characteristic in a majority of the AR displays.

Once the common element and common interactions are identified by the media guidance application from the AR device displays, the media guidance application may update the non-AR display with the common element and common interaction by replacing in the non-AR display a portion of information associated with the media asset with the common element and adding the common interaction to the main display. In an example, for a non-AR display of program listings, the display may be replaced with information about a television show or actor that has appeared as a common feature in the AR displays. In addition, the common interaction in the AR displays, such as a way to select a program, may also be added to the non-AR display. The update to the non-AR display may be provided by generating a picture-in-picture window in the non-augmented reality display that overlays a main display, and includes updates to the information associated with the media asset, for example, the common element and/or the common interaction.

In another illustrative example, the media guidance application may provide the AR devices using user preference information. The media guidance application may receive a first user profile for a first user of the AR devices, and a second user profile for a second user of the AR devices. Metadata for the media asset may also be retrieved by the media guidance application. Information about a media asset may be displayed in a non-AR device, including information about the media asset for a category of metadata. For example, in program listings, a non-AR display may include a category of actor information for the programs. The media guidance application may compare the user profiles to identify preferences for the category of information, for example a favorite actor of the respective user. The media guidance application may compare the metadata for the media asset and the user profile to identify a characteristic for the category of metadata that matches the user profile. The media guidance application may repeat this step for all users of the AR devices that have user preferences to find suitable characteristics for additional information to include with the media information in each user's AR display. The media guidance application may then generate an AR display of information for each respective user comprising an element of additional information for the category of metadata based on the characteristic.

The AR displays for each user may have additional information relevant to the particular user. In addition, the AR displays may include avatars and animations that may be suited to the user and/or the media asset. In an example, the media guidance application may receive a selection of the media asset. The selection may be, for example, to view or otherwise interact with the media asset. The media guidance application may determine a characteristic of the media asset. The media asset characteristic may be obtained from metadata for the media asset. The characteristic may be used as a basis for generating a suitable selection avatar or selection animation for interacting with the media asset. Thus, the media guidance application may display in the non-AR display of information, a selection avatar for the media asset based on the characteristic of the media asset.

In an example, a hockey sporting event may have a selection cursor in the shape of a hockey puck and selecting the hockey game may cause a hockey stick to shoot the puck at the listing. In another example, a singing program may be selected with a cursor that is shaped like a microphone and musical elements may emit from the listing when it is selected. Other types of relevant avatars and animation sequences may be used for other types of listings or media assets.

It should be noted that the systems, methods, apparatuses, and/or aspects described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with, other systems, methods, apparatuses, and/or aspects described in this disclosure.

