RESIDENTIAL VIDEO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20080298571A1
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Kurtz, Andrew F., Border, John N., Costello, Kathleen M., Jacoby, Keith A., Parada, Robert J. JR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,253,770 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/142 Constructional details of the terminal equipment, e.g. arrangements of the camera and the display
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

A video communication system and method for operating a video communication system are provided. The video communication system has a video communication device, having an image display device and at least one image capture device, wherein the at least one image capture device acquires video images of a local environment and an individual therein, according to defined video capture settings, an audio system having an audio emission device and an audio capture device; and a computer operable to interact with a contextual interface, a privacy interface, an image processor, and a communication controller to enable a communication event including at least one video scene in which outgoing video images are sent to a remote site. Wherein the contextual interface includes scene analysis algorithms for identifying potential scene transitions and capture management algorithms for providing changes in video capture settings appropriate to any identified scene transitions; and wherein the privacy interface provides privacy settings to control the capture, transmission, display, or recording of video image content from the local environment.

Claims

1. A video communication system comprising:

an video communication device, having;

an image display device and at least one image capture device, wherein the at least one image capture device acquires video images of a local environment and an individual therein, according to defined video capture settings;

an audio system having an audio emission device and an audio capture device; and

a computer operable to interact with a contextual interface, a privacy interface, an image processor, and a communication controller to enable a communication event including at least one video scene in which outgoing video images are sent to a remote site;

wherein the contextual interface includes scene analysis algorithms for identifying potential scene transitions and capture management algorithms for providing changes in video capture settings appropriate to any identified scene transitions; and

wherein the privacy interface provides privacy settings to control the capture, transmission, display, or recording of video image content from the local environment, including the individuals therein.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the video images of the local environment and individuals therein are modified according to the contextual interface and the privacy interface to create a modified video image for communication with the remote site.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the video images are modified by changes in the video capture settings for the image capture device or by image processing by the image processor.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the scene analysis algorithms examine video images based upon contextual cues, scene analysis rules, and statistical analysis to identify intra-scene or inter-scene transitions.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the computer is operable to interact with the at least one image capture device to provide a range of video capture modes, which correspond to different combinations of defined video capture settings, the video capture modes including manual mode, an automatic mode, a semi-automatic mode, a preview mode, a default modes, or an electronic picture frame mode.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one image capture device comprises a first image capture device that acquires images from a narrow field of view within the local environment and a second image capture device that simultaneously acquires images from a larger field of view that includes the narrow field of view.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the contextual interface monitors the large field of view of the second image capture device to identify potential scene transitions or content that is relevant to the privacy settings.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the outgoing video images sent to a remote viewer at the remote site are composite video images comprised of portions of two different video images acquired by at least two different image capture devices.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the outgoing video images communicated to the remote viewer are composite images comprised of portions of images acquired by an image capture device combined with image portions received by way of the communication controller.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the image display device simultaneously displays video images captured from the local environment and incoming video images received from the remote site according to the privacy settings.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the computer causes the image display device to simultaneously display either video images from the local environment and incoming video images from multiple remote sites or video images from multiple portions of the local environment and incoming video images from the remote site.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic imaging device has two display screens, including a screen which displays images in a direction, and a second screen which displays images in an opposite direction.

13. The system according to claim 1, which further comprises multiple electronic imaging devices provided within the local environment.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein the multiple electronic imaging devices can be used either simultaneously or sequentially during a communication event.

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein the scene analysis algorithms utilize face detection, voice detection, motion detection, or motion tracking capabilities.

16. The system according to claim 1, which can recognize individuals within the local environment, by means including face recognition or voice recognition.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the electronic imaging device can display still or video images which are provided for viewing by a recognized individual.

18. The system according to claim 16, wherein voice recognition is used to interpret the speech of an individual for the purpose of generating sub-titles.

19. The system according to claim 1, wherein the audio capture device includes at least one directional microphone.

20. The system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one image capture device is provided with automatic optical zoom, pan, or tilt adjustment capabilities and wherein said computer can interact with such image capture device to cause automatic adjustments to be made thereto when a scene transition is detected or according to privacy settings and according to video image content.

21. The system according to claim 1, which further comprises a user interface, which can include a keyboard, a touch screen, a joystick, a mouse, or a combination thereof.

22. The system according to claim 1, wherein the audio system further comprises audio enhancement means, such as noise cancellation or noise reduction functions, sound localization analysis functions, or combinations thereof.

23. The system according to claim 1, which further provides image capture of still images.

24. The system according to claim 1, wherein reference images that of the local environment or an individual therein are acquired and used as standards analysis of later acquired images.

25. The system according to claim 23, wherein a reference image of the local environment is used as a standard to guide modification of images of the local environment acquired during a video scene.

26. The system according to claim 23, wherein the appearance of an individual within the local environment is used as a standard to guide modification of images of images of the individual acquired during a later video scene.

28. The system according to claim 26, wherein the video communication devices utilize a privacy language protocol to exchange privacy settings across the network and wherein each video communication device manages the capture, processing, transmission or receipt of video images according to privacy settings received from the other device.

30. The system according to claim 26, wherein the scene analysis algorithms examine video images based upon contextual cues, scene analysis rules, and statistical analysis to identify intra-scene or inter-scene transitions.

31. The system according to claim 26, which each device is operable with a range of video capture modes, which correspond to different combinations of defined video capture settings, the video capture modes including manual mode, preview mode, default modes, and automatic modes.

27. A communication system comprising:

a video communication device provided for a first site and for a second site each of which provides;

a) an image display device;

b) at least one image capture device which acquires video images of a local environment and any individuals therein, according to defined video capture settings;

c) an audio system having an audio emission device that is operable to generate audio signals in the local environment and an audio capture device adapted to capture audio signals from the local environment;

d) a computer, which interacts with a privacy interface, a contextual interface, and an image processor, during a communication event including one or more video scenes; and

e) a communication controller which enables sharing of video images and audio signals across a communication network between the first site and the second site;

wherein the contextual interface includes both scene analysis algorithms for identifying potential scene transitions and capture management algorithms for determining changes in video capture settings appropriate to any identified scene transitions; and

wherein the privacy interface provides privacy settings to control the capture, transmission, display, or recording of video image content from the local environment, including the individuals therein.

29. The system according to claim 27, wherein the exchanged privacy settings control video image transmission, display, or recording at either the first or second sites.

32. A method for providing video communication between a first individual at a local site and a second individual at a remote site, comprising:

determining privacy settings for each of the local site and the remote site for a communication event;

capturing video images at the local site according to defined video image capture settings;

capturing audio signals at the local site;

identifying potential scene transitions in the captured video images at the local site on an ongoing basis;

determining changes in video image capture settings appropriate to any identified scene transitions using capture management algorithms, and adapting the capture of the video images accordingly;

transmitting at least a portion of the captured video images and audio signals from the local site to the second individual at the remote site; and

transmitting at least a portion of the remote video images and audio signals from the remote site to the local site;

adapting the capture, transmission, display, or recording of the content of the video images at the respective sites according to privacy settings determined for each of the respective sites.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein said identifying of potential scene transitions comprises examining the video images based upon contextual cues, scene analysis rules, and statistical analysis to identify intra-scene or inter-scene transitions.

34. The method according to claim 32, which is operable with a range of video capture modes, which correspond to different combinations of defined video capture settings, the video capture modes including manual mode, preview mode, default modes, and automatic modes.

35. The method according to claim 32, wherein the privacy settings are determined by individuals at the respective sites using custom privacy settings for the communication event, default privacy settings, or combinations thereof.

36. The method according to claim 32, wherein the capture of the video image is adapted by tracking the movement of the individual with a narrow image capture field of view.

37. The method according to claim 32, wherein changes in the video image capture settings are determined at the remote site in response to detected movement of the individual at the local site.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein video image capture at the remote site is guided by the individual at the local site by means of gaze tracking, gesture tracking, or pointer-based gesture tracking of the local individual.