Intelligent Navigation for Music and Media from Multiple Sources

The adoption of digital media in the car is rapidly growing; with that are an increasing number of disparate media sources such as portable media players, satellite radio, and HD radio. Media sources utilize various user access models creating a critical standardization problem in the entertainment sub-system design making navigating media in the car not only difficult but a dangerous driver distraction. Each media source creates different metadata and uses slightly different user models contributing to the overall lack of metadata standardization and can result in inaccurate or missing tag information, and multiple categories for the same piece of media. A band like “The Rolling Stones” may be categorized as “Classic Rock” on a satellite system but as “Rock” on a portable MP3 player plugged into the entertainment subsystem. In the car, lack of standardized metadata creates a dangerous environment as the consumer is forced to manually navigate through media; a serious driver distraction. Solutions addressing these issues use technology to unify the metadata from virtually any media source and offer advanced ways to simplify media and music navigation such as; personalized playlisting technology-allowing rapid access to the appropriate content; extended metadata, for DVDs for example, allowing access to program content from the rear seat as well as providing filtering options for the parents; and voice control capabilities allowing drivers to keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel while navigating their media collection through intuitive voice commands. Intelligent navigation in the car is the must have technology that allows consumers to better manage, enjoy and discover digital media.