Method, system and apparatus for telepresence communications
First Claim
1. A method of teleconferencing at a virtual location between a first participant at a first location and a second participant at a second location, comprising:
- processing a first plurality of perspective data of a first perspective of an environment of the virtual location experienced by the first participant and a first extract feature data extracted from a first plurality of cued data captured from the second participant to generate a first virtual representation of the second participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the first participant;
processing a second plurality of perspective data of a second perspective of an environment of the virtual location experienced by the second participant and a second extract feature data extracted from a second plurality of cued data captured from the first participant to generate a second virtual representation of the first participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the second participant;
displaying the first virtual representation of the second participant in the virtual location of the teleconference to the first participant at the first location; and
displaying the second virtual representation of the first participant in the virtual location of the teleconference to the second participant at the second location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus, system and method for telepresence communications at a virtual location between two or more participants at multiple locations (100, 200). First perspective data descriptive of the perspective of the virtual location environment experienced by a first participant at a first location and feature data extracted from features of a second participant at a second location (210, 220) are processed to generate a first virtual representation of the second participant in the virtual environment from the perspective of the first participant (250). Likewise, second perspective data descriptive of the perspective of the virtual location environment experienced by the second participant and feature data extracted from features of the first participant (230, 240) are processed to generate a second virtual representation of the first participant in the virtual environment from the perspective of the second participant (260). The first and second virtual representations are rendered and then displayed to the first and second participants, respectively (260, 270). The first and second virtual representations are updated and redisplayed to the participants upon a change in one or more of the perspective data and extracted feature data from which they are generated (290, 295). The apparatus, system and method are scalable to two or more participants.
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Citations
69 Claims
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1. A method of teleconferencing at a virtual location between a first participant at a first location and a second participant at a second location, comprising:
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processing a first plurality of perspective data of a first perspective of an environment of the virtual location experienced by the first participant and a first extract feature data extracted from a first plurality of cued data captured from the second participant to generate a first virtual representation of the second participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the first participant;
processing a second plurality of perspective data of a second perspective of an environment of the virtual location experienced by the second participant and a second extract feature data extracted from a second plurality of cued data captured from the first participant to generate a second virtual representation of the first participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the second participant;
displaying the first virtual representation of the second participant in the virtual location of the teleconference to the first participant at the first location; and
displaying the second virtual representation of the first participant in the virtual location of the teleconference to the second participant at the second location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method of teleconferencing at a virtual location between a first participant at a first location and a second participant at a second location, comprising:
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capturing a first plurality of cued data generated by a plurality of features of the first participant and a first plurality of perspective data of a first perspective of an environment of the virtual location experienced by the first participant;
capturing a second plurality of cued data generated by a plurality of features of the second participant and a second plurality of perspective data of a second perspective of the environment of the virtual location experienced by the second participant;
extracting a first extracted feature data of the first participant from the first plurality of cued data;
extracting a second extracted feature data of the second participant from the second plurality of cued data;
processing the first plurality of perspective data, the second extracted feature data, and a first environment data of the environment of the virtual location to generate a first virtual representation of the second participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the first participant;
processing the second plurality of perspective data, the first extracted feature data, and a second environment data of the environment of the virtual location to generate a second virtual representation of the first participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the second participant;
displaying the first virtual representation of the second participant in the virtual location of the teleconference to the first participant at the first location; and
displaying the second virtual representation of the first participant in the virtual location of the teleconference to the second participant at the second location. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system that supports a teleconference at a virtual location between a first participant at a first location and a second participant at a second location, comprising:
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a first data processing element that processes a first plurality of cued data captured from a plurality of features of the first participant and extracts selected feature data recognized from the first plurality of cued data to generate first extracted feature data of the first participant;
a first transmit element that transmits the first extracted feature data of the first participant;
a second data processing element that processes a second plurality of cued data captured from a plurality of features of the second participant and extracts selected feature data recognized from the second plurality of cued data to generate second extracted feature data of the second participant;
a second transmit element that transmits the second extracted feature data of the second participant;
wherein the first processing element processes a first plurality of perspective data that relate to a first perspective of the environment of the virtual location experienced by the first participant, the second extracted feature data, and a first environment data of the environment of the virtual location to generate a first virtual representation of the second participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the first participant;
wherein the second processing element processes a second plurality of perspective data that relate to a second perspective of the environment of the virtual location experienced by the second participant, the first extracted feature data, and a second environment data of the environment of the virtual location to generate a second virtual representation of the first participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the second participant;
a first display element that displays the first virtual representation to the first participant at the first location; and
a second display element that displays the second virtual representation to the second participant at the second location;
wherein the first processing element updates the first virtual representation of the second participant upon a change in one or more of the first plurality of perspective data, the second extracted feature data and the first environment data, and wherein the second processing element updates the second virtual representation of the first participant upon a change in one or more of the second plurality of perspective data, the first extracted feature data and the second environment data. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system that supports a teleconference at a virtual location between a first participant at a first location and a second participant at a second location, comprising:
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a first capture element that captures a first plurality of cued data from the first participant that are generated by a plurality of features of the first participant and captures a first plurality of perspective data from the first participant that relate to a first perspective of an environment of the virtual location experienced by the first participant;
a second capture element that captures a second plurality of cued data from the second participant that are generated by a plurality of features of the second participant and captures a second plurality of perspective data from the second participant that relate to a second perspective of the environment of the virtual location experienced by the second participant;
a first processing element that processes the first plurality of cued data and extracts selected feature data recognized from the first plurality of cued data to generate first extracted feature data of the first participant;
a second processing element that processes the second plurality of cued data and extracts selected feature data recognized from the second plurality of cued data to generate second extracted feature data of the second participant;
a first transmit element that transmits the first extracted feature data of the first participant;
a second transmit element that transmits the second extracted feature data of the second participant;
a first receive element that receives the first plurality of perspective data and the second extracted feature data of the second participant transmitted by the second transmit element;
a second receive element that receives the second plurality of perspective data and the first extracted feature data of the first participant transmitted by the first transmit element;
wherein the first processing element processes the first plurality of perspective data, the second extracted feature data, and a first environment data of the environment of the virtual location to generate a first virtual representation of the second participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the first participant;
wherein the second processing element processes the second plurality of perspective data, the first extracted feature data, and a second environment data of the environment of the virtual location to generate a second virtual representation of the first participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the second participant;
a first rendering element coupled to the first processing element and the first display element that renders the first virtual representation of the second participant for display by the first display element;
a first display element that displays to the first participant the first virtual representation of the second participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the first participant;
a second rendering element coupled to the second processing element and the second display element that renders the second virtual representation of the first participant for display by the second display element;
a second display element that displays to the second participant the second virtual representation of the first participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the second participant;
wherein the first processing element updates the first virtual representation of the second participant upon a change in one or more of the first plurality of perspective data, the second extracted feature data and the first environment data, and wherein the second processing element updates the second virtual representation of the first participant upon a change in one or more of the second plurality of perspective data, the first extracted feature data and the second environment data. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus that supports a teleconference at a virtual location between a first participant at a first location and a second participant at a second location, comprising:
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a receive element that receives a first plurality of perspective data captured from the first participant and relating to a first perspective of an environment of the virtual location experienced by the first participant and a first plurality of cued data captured from the second participant, wherein the first plurality of cued data are generated by a plurality of features of the second participant;
a processing element coupled to the receive element that processes the first plurality of perspective data, the first plurality of cued data and environment data about the environment of the virtual location to generate a virtual representation of the second participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the first participant;
a rendering element coupled to the processing element that renders the virtual representation of the second participant for display; and
a display element that displays the rendered virtual representation wherein the processing element updates the virtual representation of the second participant upon a change in one or more of the first plurality of perspective data, the first plurality of cued data and the environment data. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method of teleconferencing at a virtual location between a first participant at a first location and a second participant at a second location, comprising:
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receiving a first plurality of perspective data captured from the first participant and relating to a first perspective of an environment of the virtual location experienced by the first participant and a first plurality of cued data captured from the second participant and capturing a second plurality of visual cue data generated by a plurality of features of the second participant;
recognizing and extracting the plurality of visual cues generated by the plurality of features of the first participant;
processing the first plurality of perspective data, the first plurality of cued data and environment data about the environment of the virtual location to generate a virtual representation of the second participant in the environment of the virtual location from the perspective of the first participant;
rendering the virtual representation of the second participant for display on a display element;
displaying on the display element the rendered virtual representation; and
updating the virtual representation upon a change in one or more of the first plurality of perspective data, the first plurality of cued data and the environment data. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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Specification