System and Method to Enable Layered Video Messaging

• US 20120092435A1
• Filed: 10/13/2010
• Published: 04/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wohlert, Randolph
• Granted Patent: US 9,294,717 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q

Abstract

A method includes selecting, at a first computing device, a first content source as a foreground content source and a second content source as a background content source. The method includes determining a location of the first computing device. The method also includes generating layered multimedia content. The layered multimedia content includes a foreground layer including first media content received from the first content source, a background layer including second media content received from the second content source, an information layer including data associated with the location to the first computing device, and audio content. The method includes sending the layered multimedia content to at least a second computing device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

selecting, at a first computing device, a first content source as a foreground content source;

selecting, at the first computing device, a second content source as a background content source;

determining a location of the first computing device;

generating layered multimedia content, wherein the layered multimedia content comprises a foreground layer including first media content received from the first content source, a background layer including second media content received from the second content source, and an information layer including data associated with the location to the first computing device, wherein the layered multimedia content includes audio; and

sending the layered multimedia content to at least a second computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first computing device comprises a mobile telephone device that includes a front facing camera and a rear facing camera, wherein the front facing camera is selectable as the first content source, and wherein the rear facing camera is selectable as the second content source.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the front facing camera and the rear facing camera provides a live video stream.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a user interface at the first computing device to enable selection of the first content source to provide the foreground layer and to enable selection of the second content source to provide the background layer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first content source and the second content source provides one of a static image, a prerecorded video stream, and a live video stream.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first content source and the second content source provides prerecorded content that is stored at one of the first computing device, the second computing device, and a remote computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a point of interest near the location of the first computing device;

retrieving description data that is descriptive of the point of interest; and

including the description data in the layered multimedia content.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the description data includes a selectable link to access additional information associated with the point of interest.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the layered multimedia content includes selecting a portion of the first media content for inclusion in the foreground layer and omitting a remaining portion of the first media content from the foreground layer.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein selecting the portion of the first media content for inclusion in the foreground layer comprises at least one of selecting an object in a center of a frame of the first media content, selecting the portion via a face detection algorithm, selecting the portion via a motion isolation algorithm, and selecting the portion via an edge detection algorithm.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

provide, at a first computing device, a user interface to enable selection of a foreground content source and a background content source;

generate layered multimedia content comprising a plurality of layers that include a foreground layer received from the foreground content source, a background layer received from the background content source, and an information layer including data associated with a location of the first computing device; and

send the layered multimedia content to at least a second computing device via a network.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to generate the layered multimedia content based on user configurable options for at least one of the foreground layer, the background layer, and the information layer.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the user configurable options include a size of each layer of the plurality of layers, a positioning within a display area of each layer of the plurality of layers, a transparency level of each layer of the plurality of layers, a display resolution of each layer of the plurality of layers, and a percentage representing an allocation of available bandwidth of each layer of the plurality of layers.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to automatically set one or more of the user configurable options based on an available bandwidth of the network.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to automatically set one or more of the user configurable options based on capabilities of the second computing device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to determine the capabilities of the second computing device by sending a query to the second computing device before automatically setting the one or more of the user configurable options.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to receive second layered multimedia content from the second computing device substantially concurrently with sending the layered multimedia content.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to send the second layered multimedia content to a third computing device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to generate the layered multimedia content for preview at the first computing device before sending the layered multimedia content to the second computing device.

20. A system, comprising:

a server computing device to provide a user interface to a first computing device to enable selection of a foreground content source and a background content source, to generate layered multimedia content comprising a plurality of layers that include a foreground layer received from the foreground content source, a background layer received from the background content source, and an information layer including data associated with a location of the first computing device, and to send the layered multimedia content to at least a second computing device via a network.