Method and system for online presentations of writings and line drawings
First Claim
1. A method for processing visual content corresponding to writings and/or line drawings presented during a presentation such that such visual content may be replicated for viewing by persons not attending the presentation, comprising:
- directing a video capture device at a writing surface such that the writing surface occupies a substantial portion of a field of view of the video capture device;
capturing visual content with the video capture device pertaining to writings and/or line drawings created on the writing surface during the presentation or prepared on the writing surface in advance of the presentation, thereby producing a plurality of frames of pixilated data; and
cleaning up the visual content that is captured by processing the frames of pixilated data to remove data corresponding to artifacts in the visual content that do not pertain to the writings and/or line drawings through application of a set of image processing functions that remove such data based on unique characteristics of writings and/or line drawings that are used to distinguish pixilated data pertaining to the writings and/or line drawings from the pixilated data pertaining to the artifacts.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for enabling writings and/or drawings created during or in advance of a virtual meeting or the like to be electronically delivered to an online audience or stored for subsequent on-demand viewing such that the writings and/or drawings may be replicated on an audience member'"'"'s computer in a manner that makes them clearly readable. The invention is implemented via a software application that runs on a computer to which a video capture device is connected. The software application and/or computer peripheral components process captured video content to filter out data that do not pertain to the writings and/or drawings, based on the unique characteristics of writings and drawings as compared with other artifacts that may occupy the visual images. The remaining pertinent data is then transmitted to the on-line audience or saved for later on-demand viewing. In an additional implementation, a composite image comprising a writing area portion and an additional portion of the visual content of the presentation is replicated for online viewing.
80 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method for processing visual content corresponding to writings and/or line drawings presented during a presentation such that such visual content may be replicated for viewing by persons not attending the presentation, comprising:
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directing a video capture device at a writing surface such that the writing surface occupies a substantial portion of a field of view of the video capture device;
capturing visual content with the video capture device pertaining to writings and/or line drawings created on the writing surface during the presentation or prepared on the writing surface in advance of the presentation, thereby producing a plurality of frames of pixilated data; and
cleaning up the visual content that is captured by processing the frames of pixilated data to remove data corresponding to artifacts in the visual content that do not pertain to the writings and/or line drawings through application of a set of image processing functions that remove such data based on unique characteristics of writings and/or line drawings that are used to distinguish pixilated data pertaining to the writings and/or line drawings from the pixilated data pertaining to the artifacts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for processing visual content corresponding to writings and/or line drawings presented during a presentation such that such visual content may be replicated for viewing by persons not attending the presentation, comprising:
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directing a video capture device at a writing surface such that the writing surface occupies a substantial portion of a field of view of the video capture device;
capturing visual content with the video capture device pertaining to writings and/or line drawings created on the writing surface during the presentation or prepared on the writing surface in advance of the presentation, thereby producing a plurality of frames of pixilated data;
performing a flat field correction function that removes undesired artifacts including shadows, reflections, and lighting variations from the image data by performing a two-dimensional high-pass filter to remove low frequency pixel variations in the frames;
performing a blob analysis function comprising;
grouping substantially adjacent pixels with a color other than a background color of the writing surface into blobs; and
classifying the blobs into (a) writing or drawing marks on the writing surface or (b) objects between the video capture device and the writing surface based on features of each blob; and
removing pixelated data corresponding blobs that are classified as objects between the video capture device and the writing surface; and
performing a frame averaging function whereby the pixilated data values for a given frame are determined by averaging pixilated data values over a plurality of frames. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A method for processing visual content corresponding to writings and/or line drawings presented during a presentation such that such visual content may be replicated over the Internet to an online audience, comprising:
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directing a video capture device at a writing surface such that the writing surface occupies a substantial portion of a field of view of the video capture device;
capturing visual content with the video capture device pertaining to writings and/or line drawings created on the writing surface during the presentation or prepared on the writing surface in advance of the presentation, thereby producing a plurality of frames of pixilated data;
cleaning up the visual content that is captured by processing the frames of pixilated data to remove data corresponding to artifacts in the visual content that do not pertain to the writings and/or line drawings through application of a set of image processing functions that remove such data based on unique characteristics of writings and/or line drawings that are used to distinguish pixilated data pertaining to the writings and/or line drawings from the pixilated data pertaining to the artifacts;
compressing the frames of pixilated data after the frames of pixilated data have been cleaned up to produce encoded data;
transmitting the encoded data over the Internet to an on-line audience member'"'"'s computer;
decoding the encoded data at the on-line audience member'"'"'s to produce a replication of the visual content of the presentation on the on-line audience member'"'"'s computer. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A method for processing visual content including a first portion corresponding to writings and/or line drawings presented during a presentation and a second portion corresponding to additional visual content corresponding to the presentation such that the visual content is replicated on an online audience member'"'"'s computer, comprising:
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directing a video capture device at a writing surface such that the writing surface occupies a portion of a field of view of the video capture device;
enabling a user to define a first portion of the field of view of the video capture device corresponding to a writings area in which the writings and/or line drawings will be displayed during the presentation;
enabling the user to define a second portion of the field of view of the video capture device corresponding to an additional area of the visual content that is to be replicated for viewing by persons not attending the presentation capturing visual content with the video capture device to produce a plurality of frames of pixilated data;
separating portions of the pixilated data into data corresponding to the writings area and the additional area;
cleaning up the pixilated data corresponding to the writings area to produce a first portion of encoded data by removing data corresponding to artifacts in the visual content that do not pertain to the writings and/or line drawings through application of a set of image processing functions that remove such data based on unique characteristics of writings and/or line drawings that are used to distinguish pixilated data pertaining to the writings and/or line drawings from the pixilated data pertaining to the artifacts;
applying conventional image processing techniques to the pixilated data corresponding to the additional area to produce a second portion of encoded data, wherein the conventional image processing technique reduces an amount of data that describes each frame;
transmitting the first and second portions of encoded data over a communications network to an on-line audience member'"'"'s computer; and
decoding the first and second portions of encoded data on the online audience member'"'"'s computer to produce a composite image that comprises a replication of both the writings area portion and the additional area portion of the visual content of the presentation. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. An article of manufacture comprising a medium on which a plurality of machine-readable instructions are stored, said machine-readable instructions when executed performing functions including:
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capturing visual content with a video capture device that is directed at a writing surface such that the writing surface occupies a substantial portion of a field of view of the video capture device, said visual content pertaining to writings and/or line drawings created on the writing surface during the presentation or prepared on the writing surface in advance of the presentation, thereby producing a plurality of frames of pixilated data; and
cleaning up the visual content that is captured by processing the frames of pixilated data to remove data corresponding to artifacts in the visual content that do not pertain to the writings and/or line drawings through application a set of processing functions that remove such data based on unique characteristics of writings and/or line drawings that are used to distinguish pixilated data pertaining to the writings and/or line drawings from the pixilated data pertaining to the artifacts. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A system for capturing visual content corresponding to writings and/or line drawings presented during a presentation such that such visual content may be replicated for viewing by persons not attending the presentation, comprising:
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a first computer including;
a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored;
a processor, coupled to the memory; and
a display screen; and
a video capture device, linked in communication with the computer;
wherein execution of the machine instructions on said processor causes the first computer to perform the functions of;
capturing visual content with a video capture device that is directed at a writing surface such that the writing surface occupies a substantial portion of a field of view of the video capture device, said visual content pertaining to writings and/or line drawings created on the writing surface during the presentation or prepared on the writing surface in advance of the presentation, thereby producing a plurality of frames of pixilated data; and
cleaning up the visual content that is captured by processing the frames of pixilated data to remove data corresponding to artifacts in the visual content that do not pertain to the writings and/or line drawings through application a set of processing functions that remove such data based on unique characteristics of writings and/or line drawings that are used to distinguish pixilated data pertaining to the writings and/or line drawings from the pixilated data pertaining to the artifacts. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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Specification