Video e-mail system and associated method

• US 20030122922A1
• Filed: 11/21/2002
• Published: 07/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kevin D. Saffer, Walter H. Solomon
• Original Assignee: Kevin D. Saffer, Walter H. Solomon
• Inventors: Solomon, Walter H., Saffer, Kevin D.
• Application Number:
  US10/301,469
• Publication Number:
  US 20030122922A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2743 Video hosting of uploaded data from client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4786 e-mailing message switching systems, e.g. electronic mail systems H04L51/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

A computer implemented system and method in which a user can send e-mail messages that include full-motion video and audio (or, alternatively, audio only), along with (if desired) the text messages to an e-mail recipient. The sender merely needs to incorporate camera control software according to certain aspects of the present invention into his/her remote computer/terminal that will coordinate the recording and exchange of such videos using the sender'"'"'s remote computer and associated video camera. In the exemplary embodiment, the compose screen code includes pre-existing e-mail application code and custom code inserted into pre-existing templates provided by the pre-existing e-mail application code; and further, the camera control application is a discrete application that communicates with pre-existing video camera support application residing on the sender'"'"'s remote computer. Accordingly, the video email system is configured to operate with pre-existing e-mail application codes and pre-existing video camera support applications without invading the basic system codes of either.

Claims

1. A computer network-based video email system comprising:

(a) a sender'"'"'s remote computer operatively coupled to a global computer network, the sender'"'"'s remote computer including a display screen, at least one manual i/o device, a video camera, at least one of (i) a browser application and (ii) a dedicated electronic messaging application installed thereon, and a camera control application installed thereon;

(b) a recipient'"'"'s remote computer operatively coupled to the global computer network, the recipient'"'"'s remote computer including a display screen, at least one manual i/o device, and at least one of (i) a browser application and (ii) a dedicated electronic application installed thereon;

(c) an electronic message server operatively coupled to the global computer network, including composing screen code downloadable by the sender'"'"'s remote computer and compatible with the browser or dedicated electronic messaging application installed on the sender'"'"'s remote computer, the composing screen code being configured to provide,

(i) electronic-message composition graphical interface elements, enabling the sender to compose an electronic message using the browser or dedicated electronic messaging application,

(ii) video recording graphical interface elements enabling the sender to direct and monitor the recording of media on the sender'"'"'s computer, and

(iii) functional interface elements providing a functional interface between at least the video recording graphical interface elements and the camera control application installed on the sender'"'"'s remote computer; and

(d) a video server operatively coupled to the global computer network adapted to stream media to the recipient'"'"'s remote computer;

(e) wherein the camera control software is configured to (i) record media onto the sender'"'"'s remote computer, (ii) communicate with the video server to upload the recorded media to the video server, (iii) to obtain or define an identity of the uploaded media, and (iv) to interface with the functional interface elements of the composing screen code for inserting an address to the video server along with the identity of the uploaded media into the composed electronic message.

2. The computer network-based video email system of claim 1, wherein the video server is adapted to stream media to the recipient'"'"'s remote computer through another server.

3. The computer network-based video email system of claim 1, wherein the address to the video server inserted into the composed electronic message includes a hyper-link.

4. A computer implemented video messaging method, comprising the steps of:

(a) accessing a sender'"'"'s electronic message server computer over a computer network by a sender'"'"'s computer;

(b) downloading, by the sender'"'"'s computer, compose screen code from the sender'"'"'s electronic message server to an electronic messaging application running on the sender'"'"'s computer;

(c) composing a message using the compose screen and recording a video on the sender'"'"'s computer utilizing camera control software installed on the user'"'"'s computer that interacts with the compose screen code;

(d) activating an icon on the compose screen associated with a send-message command;

(e) the camera control software on the sender'"'"'s computer performing the steps of, in no specific order, compressing the recorded video, uploading the compressed video to a video server over the computer network, and retrieving a video identification from the video server;

(f) inserting, by the compose screen code on the sender'"'"'s computer, the video identification, along with an address to the video server, into the composed message;

(g) uploading, by the sender'"'"'s computer, the composed message with the inserted video identification and address to the sender'"'"'s electronic message server;

(h) sending, by the sender'"'"'s electronic message server, the composed message with the inserted video identification and address to a recipient'"'"'s electronic message server;

(i) accessing the recipient'"'"'s electronic message server computer over a computer network by a recipient'"'"'s computer;

(j) downloading, by a recipient'"'"'s computer, the composed message with the inserted video identification and address to a browser or an electronic messaging application running on the recipient'"'"'s remote computer, which displays the message;

(k) accessing, by the recipient'"'"'s computer, the video from the video server over the computer network using the video identification and address inserted in the composed message;

(l) downloading, by the electronic messaging application running on the recipient'"'"'s remote computer, code from the video server to set up a video viewing window on the recipient'"'"'s remote computer; and

(m) streaming, by the video server to the video viewing window on the recipient'"'"'s computer, over the computer network, the accessed video.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein the sender'"'"'s electronic message server and the recipient'"'"'s electronic message server are a single server.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein the sender'"'"'s electronic message server and the recipient'"'"'s electronic message server are separate servers.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein the steps (a) through (m) are not necessarily sequential.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein the step (a) through (m) are sequential.