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SeamlessTV - Dynamic. Cinematic. Hypervideo.

Licensed by All Major Motion Picture Studios

Digital video makes it possible to blend the fluid continuity of cinematic experience with the kinds of choice and control that hypermedia affords. Telescoping is a general term that describes user experiences in which video streams expand and/or contract dynamically.  MONKEYmedia’s Seamless Expansion™ and Seamless Contraction™ families of inventions enable rich interactive video experiences on DVD, Blu-ray, SmartTV, DVR, set-top and mobile ad platforms.

Seamless Expansion enables real-time access to optional content, such as behind-the-scenes featurettes and long-form advertisements.  Seamless Contraction lets distributors bundle theatrical and extended editions of the same film to optimize memory resources.  These patents, which date back to 1992, are licensed by Samsung, Sony, TiVo/Rovi, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Paramount, Walt Disney / Buena Vista / Pixar / Lucasfilm / Marvel and others.  The technologies have been incorporated in over 184 million copies of movies sold on DVD and Blu-ray.

Bonus Material

behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, director commentary, trivia & games

Advertainment

3 to 12 minute long-form advertisements, network previews, product details

Calls to Action

request materials, vote, purchase products, set related episodes to record

Seamless Expansion

Seamless Expansion is a form of interactive media in which a link from a video enables playback of optional content (an “expansion”), such as an extended scene, another video clip, pictures, text or interactive elements.  If a content expansion is not desired, the currently playing content continues automatically.  But when a viewer chooses to invoke a content expansion, then the main video is paused and the optional content is played.  Once the viewer has finished with the expansion, the main video resumes right where it left off.

MONKEYmedia invented the technique and reduced it to practice in the early 90’s while experimenting with concepts for then-future video distribution formats such as DVD and interactive TV. On DVD and Blu-ray today, the technique has become known as seamless branching. Broadcast TV and Internet industries also refer to it as long-form or telescopic advertising.

Seamless Contraction

Seamless Contraction is the inverse of Seamless Expansion, enabling a viewer to abbreviate long videos by skipping undesired or non-salient segments. MONKEYmedia invented the technique while exploring methods for representing divergent personal perspectives and displaying their results in a variety of media types. The first prototypes, developed in 1992, were called Relativity Controllers because individual viewers could see content customized to satisfy their own unique preferences.

On DVD and Blu-ray today, Seamless Contraction is commonly used to deliver multiple versions of the same movie (such as a director’s cut and theatrical release) on a single disc.

“Licensing technology is an essential part of maintaining a healthy cycle of innovation, and is a practice employed by most all high tech companies.”

Kenneth Lustig
Managing Director and Head of Inbound Licensing, Microsoft

“Microsoft respects intellectual property rights, and by so doing, is able to stand behind its products and customers.”

Kenneth Lustig
Managing Director and Head of Inbound Licensing, Microsoft

“IP licensing is an essential part of maintaining and growing a healthy strong software ecosystem.”

Kenneth Lustig
Managing Director and Head of Inbound Licensing, Microsoft

SeamlessTV Partner Program

The SeamlessTV Partner Program is open to all parties interested in tapping MONKEYmedia’s patented technology and methods in connection with DVD players, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, DVRs, smart TVs, PC video players, mobile devices, discs implementing telescopic video features, and the transmission of telescopic advertising and other optional viewing materials.

Companies that join the SeamlessTV Partner Program receive licenses to MONKEYmedia’s portfolio of Seamless Expansion and Seamless Contraction patents. This includes patent claims directed towards telescopic video and other enhanced viewing experiences, as well as techniques essential to the practice of various industry-governed standards such as DVD-Video, Blu-ray and protocols such as the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Advertising Specification Standard (SCTE-130) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) latest Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST 4.0).

Patented Technology

Members of the SeamlessTV Partner Program are licensed to use US Patent 6,177,938, US Patent 6,219,052, US Patent 6,215,491, US Patent 6,335,730, US Patent 8,381,126, US Patent 8,370,746, US Patent 8,370,745, US Patent 8,392,848, US Patent 6,393,158, US Patent 9,185,379, US Patent 9,247,226 and US Patent 10,051,298. SeamlessTV partners may opt to license patents for particular categories of products and services, whether implemented as stand-alone devices, software or integrated into another product. Combination devices may be subject to fees in each applicable category.

Contact our team to learn more about how our technology can enhance your virtual reality, interactive video or drone piloting products.

 


 

Copyright © 1994-2023 MONKEYmedia, Inc.  All rights reserved.  MONKEYmedia, SeamlessTV and BodyNav are registered trademarks of MONKEYmedia. Walk-in Theater, Teleport, Seamless Expansion and Seamless Contraction are trademarks of MONKEYmedia. BodyNav, BodyNav Test Drive, Walk-in Theater and Teleport are covered by US Patent 9,563,202, US Patent 9,579,586, US Patent 9,612,627, US Patent 9,656,168, US Patent 9,658,617, US Patent 9,782,684, US Patent 9,791,897, US Patent 9,919,233, US Patent 10,596,478, US Patent Application 16/793,056 and other patents pending. Seamless Expansion is covered by, US Patent 6,393,158, US Patent 9,185,379, US Patent 9,247,226 and US Patent 10,051,298. Seamless Contraction is covered by US Patent 6,177,938, US Patent 6,219,052, US Patent 6,215,491, US Patent 6,335,730, US Patent 8,381,126, US Patent 8,370,746, US Patent 8,370,745, US Patent 8,392,848. BodyNav tutorial game soundtrack courtesy of De La Soul. The Teleport App has been tested using DJI Phantom 4, Mavic Pro and Spark drones. iPhone, iPad and iOS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. DJI, Phantom, Mavic and Spark are trademarks of SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. HTC VIVE is a trademark of HTC Corporation. Oculus and Rift are trademarks of Facebook Technologies, LLC. Samsung, Sony, TiVo, Rovi, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Paramount, Walt Disney, Buena Vista, Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel are trademarks of their respective owners. All other product names, logos and brands are property of their respective owners.