Example levitating meter apparatus are disclosed. An example metering system includes a meter having a display to present indicia associated with a panelist. The meter has a microphone to receive audio output from a media device and circuitry to perform media monitoring. A base includes a cavity to receive at least a portion of the meter. The meter to magnetically levitate relative to the base to decouple the meter from the base. The base and the meter structured to fix a rotational position of the meter relative to the base when the at least the portion of the meter is received by the cavity of the base and the meter levitates relative to the base.

Optimizing parameters includes, during a time interval, rotating from setting a first parameter to a first value for a first time period, to setting the first parameter to a second value for a second time period such that the time interval includes multiple first time periods in which the first parameter is set to the first value sequenced with multiple second time periods in which the first parameter is set to the second value; obtaining, for the time interval, a first set of ratings corresponding to the first time periods and a second set of ratings corresponding to the second time periods; averaging, for the time interval, the first set of ratings to a first average rating and the second set of ratings to a second average rating; and correlating the first average rating to the first value and the second average rating to the second value.

Methods and apparatus to determine a state of a media presentation device are disclosed. Example disclosed methods include generating a first set of weighted coefficients based on first audio received by first and second microphones at a first time. Example disclosed methods include generating a second set of weighted coefficients based on second audio received by the first and second microphones at a second time after the first time. Example disclosed methods include comparing the first set of coefficients and the second set of coefficients to generate a similarity value. Example disclosed methods include, when the similarity value satisfies a threshold, determining that the media presentation device is in a first state. Example disclosed methods include, when the similarity value does not satisfy the threshold, determining that the media presentation device is in a second state.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to update audio sensor configuration are disclosed. An example apparatus includes at least one memory, instructions in the apparatus, and processor circuitry to execute the instructions to: in response to detection of an update to audio sensor configuration, identify a plurality of potential audio sensor configurations to be used to receive audio, select respective ones of the identified potential audio sensor configurations for testing, determine signal-to-noise ratios corresponding to each of the selected ones of the potential audio sensor configurations, select the greatest signal-to-noise ratio of the signal-to-noise ratios, compare the greatest signal-to-noise ratio value and a noise ratio change threshold, and in response to the selected greatest signal-to-noise ratio value exceeding the noise ratio change threshold, update a configuration memory to cause use of the potential audio sensor configuration corresponding to the selected greatest signal-to-noise ratio.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to measure exposure to streaming media are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a video retriever to retrieve an image displayed by a media device presenting the streaming media, the media device separate from the video retriever. A metadata extractor is to extract a video watermark from the retrieved image. A metadata converter is to, in response to the extraction of the video watermark, convert the video watermark into text formatted metadata. A transmitter is to transmit the text formatted metadata to a central facility.

The present disclosure provides systems, methods, and computer program products for transmitting data to computing devices via audio communication channels. A computer-implemented method performed by one or more processing devices may include, for example, providing an audio token to a broadcasting device for broadcast via an audio communication channel, receiving the audio token from a user computing device, the audio token being received from the user computing device based on an audio broadcast of the audio token by the broadcasting device via the audio communication channel, and obtaining, in response to determining data that is associated with the received audio token, approval to process a payment transaction by at least in part transmitting the data to the user computing device.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to utilize audio watermarking for people monitoring are disclosed. Example people monitoring methods disclosed herein include determining, at a user device, whether a first trigger condition for emitting an audio watermark identifying at least one of the user device or a user of the user device is satisfied. Such example methods also include, in response to determining that the first trigger condition is satisfied, providing a first audio signal including the audio watermark to an audio circuit that is to output an acoustic signal from the user device.

A method, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, and reception apparatus for extracting metadata, and an information providing apparatus for providing the metadata. The method for extracting metadata includes processing, by circuitry of the reception apparatus, content that includes the metadata embedded therein. The metadata is embedded as a watermark in a first portion of a video frame of the content. The circuitry determines symbol values of the watermark from the video frame based on luminance values in pixels of the first portion of the video frame of the content to extract the metadata. At least one of the luminance values is less than 16.

Example levitating meter apparatus are disclosed. An example metering system includes a meter having a display to present indicia associated with a panelist, the meter having a microphone to receive audio output from the media device and circuitry to perform media monitoring. The example metering system includes a base having a cavity to receive at least a portion of the meter, the meter to magnetically levitate relative to the base to decouple the meter from the base.

Apparatus, systems, articles of manufacture, and methods to identify media using watermarks and signatures are disclosed. An example apparatus includes at least one memory, instructions, and processor circuitry to execute the instructions to: determine a first time and a category indicated by a watermark detected in the media, determine a search window based on the first time indicated by the watermark, the search window to at least one of (i) extend a first duration of time before the first time indicated by the watermark or (ii) extend a second duration of time after the first time indicated by the watermark, and compare (i) a query signature associated with a second time within the search window with (ii) a subset of reference signatures associated with the category to identify the media, the query signature generated from the media, the subset of reference signatures generated from reference media associated with the category.