Method and apparatus for annotating media streams

Abstract

One embodiment of a method for facilitating creation of an annotated media stream by a user includes receiving the media stream from the user, mapping at least one item of supplemental content to at least a portion of the media stream to produce the annotated media stream, and storing the annotated media stream. In another embodiment, a method for distributing an annotated media stream provided by a user includes receiving the annotated media stream from the user, where the annotated media stream includes at least one item of supplemental content mapped to at least a portion of a media stream to produce the annotated media stream, storing the annotated media stream, receiving a request from a viewer to view the annotated media stream, and distributing the annotated media stream to the viewer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for distributing media streams, comprising:
 receiving a media stream from a first user, wherein the media stream comprises a plurality of individual frames each identified by a unique identifier;   mapping a tag to a unique identifier identifying one of the plurality of individual frames to produce a tagged media stream, wherein the tag is thus associated with the one of the plurality of individual frames rather than with the tagged media stream as a whole; and   storing the tagged media stream in a searchable repository.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a search request from a second user, different from the first user, wherein the search request includes the tag;   presenting to the second user a set of media streams in response to the search request, wherein each media stream in the set of media streams includes at least one individual frame having a unique identifier that is mapped to the tag, and wherein the set of media streams includes the tagged media stream.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the search request comprises a combination of a first tag relating to content derived from a first component of the tagged media stream and a second tag relating to content derived from a second component of the tagged media stream. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the content derived from the first component of the tagged media stream and the content derived from the second component of the tagged media stream occur in different frames of the plurality of individual frames. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving a signal from the second user indicating a selection of the tagged media stream from the set of annotated media streams; and   providing the tagged media stream over a network to the second user.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mapping comprises:
 associating the tag with a series of unique identifiers identifying a subset of sequential frames in the plurality of individual frames.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mapping results in at least two of the plurality of individual frames being associated with different tags. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the tag relates to audio content of the one of the plurality of individual frames. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the tag relates to image content of the one of the plurality of individual frames. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the tag relates to a mood of the one of the plurality of individual frames. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer readable medium containing an executable program for distributing media streams, where the program performs the steps of:
 receiving a media stream from a first user, wherein the media stream comprises a plurality of individual frames each identified by a unique identifier;   mapping a tag to a unique identifier identifying one of the plurality of individual frames to produce a tagged media stream, wherein the tag is thus associated with the one of the plurality of individual frames rather than with the tagged media stream as a whole; and   storing the tagged media stream in a searchable repository.   
     
     
         12 . A method of distributing media streams, the method comprising:
 receiving a search request from a user, wherein the search request includes a tag;   identifying, in accordance with a mapping, an identifier mapped to the tag, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies a frame of a media stream stored in a repository of media streams; and   presenting the media stream to the user in response to the search request.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the tag is associated by the mapping with less than an entirety of the media stream. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the search request comprises a combination of a first tag relating to content derived from a first component of the media stream and a second tag relating to content derived from a second component of the media stream. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the content derived from the first component of the media stream and the content derived from the second component of the media stream occur in different frames of the media stream. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the mapping maps at least two different frames in the media stream to different tags. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the tag relates to audio content of the frame. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the tag relates to image content of the frame. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the tag relates to a mood of the frame. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium containing an executable program for distributing media streams, where the program performs the steps of:
 receiving a media stream from a first user, wherein the media stream comprises a plurality of individual frames each identified by a unique identifier;   mapping a tag to a unique identifier identifying one of the plurality of individual frames to produce a tagged media stream, wherein the tag is thus associated with the one of the plurality of individual frames rather than with the tagged media stream as a whole; and   storing the tagged media stream in a searchable repository.