Systems and methods for identifying, assembling, and transmitting content are described in the illustrative context of electronic program guides and program channels. A first system causes an interactive interstitial to be presented on a remote first device of a user in conjunction with a scheduled program. The first system determines if a second device of the user is available to receive an interstitial interaction request. At least partly in response to determining that the second device is available to receive an interstitial interaction request, the interstitial interaction request is presented via a client hosted on the second device. At least partly in response to determining that the user has provided an interaction via the second device, the interaction is stored in memory. Optionally, an interstitial is composed based at least in part on the user interaction. The composed interstitial is optionally displayed via the first device of the user in conjunction with a scheduled program.

One aspect of this disclosure relates a video processing device comprising a processor for processing a manifest file for video streaming for a user. The manifest file comprises at least a plurality of positions defined for a scene that are associated with pre-rendered omnidirectional or volumetric video segments stored on a server system. The manifest file may also contain a plurality of resource locators for retrieving omnidirectional or volumetric video segments from the server system. Each resource locator may be associated with a position defined for the scene. The video processing device may be configured to associate a position of the user with a first position for the scene in the manifest file to retrieve a first omnidirectional or volumetric video segment associated with the first position using a first resource locator from the manifest file.

One aspect of this disclosure relates a video processing device comprising a processor for processing a manifest file for video streaming for a user. The manifest file comprises at least a plurality of positions defined for a scene that are associated with pre-rendered omnidirectional or volumetric video segments stored on a server system. The manifest file may also contain a plurality of resource locators for retrieving omnidirectional or volumetric video segments from the server system. Each resource locator may be associated with a position defined for the scene. The video processing device may be configured to associate a position of the user with a first position for the scene in the manifest file to retrieve a first omnidirectional or volumetric video segment associated with the first position using a first resource locator from the manifest file.

A system for distributing media includes a wide area network (WAN), a media player coupled to the WAN at a first home, and a media server coupled to the WAN at a second home for providing media. A service is coupled to the WAN for receiving a request for media from the media player and for establishing a connection between the first and second homes over the WAN. Media is streamed across the WAN from the second home to the first home. The system may include a storage device coupled to the media player where media is transferred across the WAN for storage at the storage device. A media device may be coupled to the media player for playing the streamed/transferred media where the media player and the media device may comprise a television, stereo, or computer and the media item may comprise video, photographs, or audio.

A display apparatus and a server which implements an interactive system are disclosed. The server includes a communicator which receives text information corresponding to a user voice collected at the display apparatus from the display apparatus, and a controller which extracts an utterance component from the text information and controls so that a query to search contents is generated using the extracted utterance component and transmitted to an external server which categorizes metadata of the content under each item and stores the same, in which the controller generates the query by adding a preset item to a criteria to search a content, when a number of criteria to categorize the content under an item corresponding to the extracted utterance component is less than a preset number.

A display apparatus and a server which implements an interactive system are disclosed. The server includes a communicator which receives text information corresponding to a user voice collected at the display apparatus from the display apparatus, and a controller which extracts an utterance component from the text information and controls so that a query to search contents is generated using the extracted utterance component and transmitted to an external server which categorizes metadata of the content under each item and stores the same, in which the controller generates the query by adding a preset item to a criteria to search a content, when a number of criteria to categorize the content under an item corresponding to the extracted utterance component is less than a preset number.

Disclosed herein are system, apparatus, article of manufacture, method, and/or computer program product embodiments for a crowd sourced indexing and/or searching of content. An embodiment operates by receiving one or more requests for content from one or more media devices, each request comprising content identifier information that identifies the content, determining whether crowd sourced content index information has been generated for the content, transmitting a response to the one or more media devices of the one or more media devices, in response to the one or more requests, the response comprising content location information and a content indexing request, and receiving content index information for the content identified by the content identifier information from the one or more media devices.

Disclosed herein are system, apparatus, article of manufacture, method, and/or computer program product embodiments for a crowd sourced indexing and/or searching of content. An embodiment operates by receiving one or more requests for content from one or more media devices, each request comprising content identifier information that identifies the content, determining whether crowd sourced content index information has been generated for the content, transmitting a response to the one or more media devices of the one or more media devices, in response to the one or more requests, the response comprising content location information and a content indexing request, and receiving content index information for the content identified by the content identifier information from the one or more media devices.

The present invention is directed to a content creation system comprising one or more client devices, one or more servers including a database for storing information related to a plurality of items to be displayed and sold during a show, identification information associated with the plurality of items, a quantity of the plurality of items in stock in a warehouse, a plurality of audio segments, and a plurality of video segments, and a program creation unit for processing the information received from the database and for creating the show for subsequent broadcast, the show having a plurality of plays. The system also includes a network coupled to the one or more client devices and the one or more servers for allowing the one or more client devices to communicate with the one or more servers.

The present invention is directed to a content creation system comprising one or more client devices, one or more servers including a database for storing information related to a plurality of items to be displayed and sold during a show, identification information associated with the plurality of items, a quantity of the plurality of items in stock in a warehouse, a plurality of audio segments, and a plurality of video segments, and a program creation unit for processing the information received from the database and for creating the show for subsequent broadcast, the show having a plurality of plays. The system also includes a network coupled to the one or more client devices and the one or more servers for allowing the one or more client devices to communicate with the one or more servers.