Synchronizing external data to video playback

Abstract

The subject disclosure is generally directed towards synchronizing live streaming videos with additional sources of contextually-related data. In one or more aspects, contextually-related data is marked with a timestamp, with a reference to each piece of data maintained in a manifest. The manifest is accessed to locate the contextually relevant information (e.g., on a companion device or the video playing device) in synchronization with the streaming video, such that a user is able to pause/stop/rewind/fast forward while maintaining the timeline synchronization between video and the data.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising, outputting data in synchronization with a outputting a video stream, in which the video stream and data are received from external sources that are separate from one another, including determining a location within the video stream, sending a request based on the location for information corresponding to the data, and receiving the information comprising the data or a reference to the data. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving the information comprises receiving a manifest, or receiving a chunk of a manifest in which the chunk is based upon the location. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising, accessing the data for the location based upon information in the manifest or the chunk of the manifest. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein accessing the data comprises retrieving a data blob via a URL identified in the manifest or the chunk of the manifest. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising outputting the data based upon a synchronization marker associated with the data and the location within the video stream. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising, stamping the data with the synchronization marker in which the synchronization marker comprises a timestamp. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein outputting the data comprises displaying a representation of the data on at least one companion device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein outputting the data comprises displaying a representation of the data on a device that also plays video corresponding to the video stream. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving the information comprises receiving a chunk of a manifest, and further comprising, determining a new location within the video stream that is not a location associated with the chunk, sending another request based on the new location for information corresponding to the data, and receiving the information comprising the data or a reference to the data in another chunk of the manifest. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining the location within the video stream comprises querying a video player component for status information. 
     
     
         11 . A system comprising:
 a data service, the data service configured to obtain event-related data that is generated in conjunction with streaming video of an event, stamp the event-related data with a synchronization marker, and output synchronization-marked data that corresponds to the event-related data for access; and   a data encoding service, the data encoding service configured to communicate with the data service to obtain information corresponding to the event-related data and maintain a manifest based upon the information, the data encoding service further configured to return at least part of the manifest in response to a request for manifest content, in which the manifest content provides information by which the synchronization-marked data is accessible for use in synchronizing with streamed video content based upon one or more synchronization markers in the synchronization-marked data.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the synchronization-marked data is contained within one or more data blobs, with at least one data blob accessible via a URL identified in the manifest content. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the data service is further configured to differentiate between continuous mode data and discreet mode data. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising a video playing device configured to communicate with the data encoding service to request the manifest content in conjunction with streamed video played by the video playing device. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  further comprising a companion device configured to communicate with the video playing device, including to receive information by which the synchronization-marked data is accessible, the companion device further configured to download the synchronization-marked data and display a representation of the synchronization-marked data. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the data service is configured to obtain the event-related data from a data store that maintains the event-related data separately from the streaming video. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the manifest is configured as a plurality of chunks divided by time. 
     
     
         18 . One or more machine-readable storage media or logic having executable instructions, which when executed perform steps, comprising, synchronizing event-related data from one source with streaming video from another source, including marking the event-related data with synchronization markers that correspond to locations in the streaming video, providing metadata identifying the event-related data to a consumer, and providing access to the event-related data marked with synchronization markers based upon information in the metadata. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more machine-readable storage media or logic of  claim 18  having further machine-executable instructions comprising, maintaining a manifest of the metadata, and wherein providing the metadata comprises returning at least part of the manifest to the consumer based upon location-related information relative to the video stream provided by the consumer. 
     
     
         20 . The one or more machine-readable storage media or logic of  claim 18  having further machine-executable instructions comprising, outputting at least some discreet mode data.