Overlay for a Video Conferencing Application

• US 20120092438A1
• Filed: 10/18/2010
• Published: 04/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Coffman, Patrick, Lemay, Stephen O., Guzman Suarez, Angela
• Granted Patent: US 9,237,305 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.03
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a video conferencing application for execution by a first electronic device. The video conferencing application is for conducting a video conference between the first electronic device and a second electronic device. The video conferencing application presents, in a first display area, a video captured by the first electronic device. In an at least partially transparent second display area that is superimposed on a portion of the video in the first display area, the video conferencing application presents a set of user selectable items for configuring the video conferencing application.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a video conferencing application for execution by a first electronic device, the video conferencing application for conducting a video conference between the first electronic device and a second electronic device, the video conferencing application comprising sets of instructions for:

in a first display area, presenting a video captured by the first electronic device; and

in an at least partially transparent second display area that is superimposed on a portion of the video in the first display area, presenting a set of user selectable items for configuring the video conferencing application.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device is a desktop computer.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the second electronic device is a desktop computer.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the second electronic device is a smartphone.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein configuring the video conferencing application comprises creating a new account for a user of the first electronic device.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein configuring the video conferencing application comprises initiating a video conference between the first electronic device and the second electronic device.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the video conference is initiated through a selection of a selectable item that represents a user of the second device.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the user selectable items in the set represent contacts with whom the user can initiate a video conference.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein configuring the video conferencing application comprises editing information about the contacts.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the size of the second display area is adjustable through a selection of an edge of the second display area and subsequent dragging of the selected edge.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a video conferencing application for conducting a video conference between a first electronic device and a second electronic device, the video conferencing application executable by the first electronic device, the video conferencing application comprising a graphical user interface (GUI), the GUI comprising:

a display area for displaying video images captured by at least one of the electronic devices participating in the video conference; and

an at least partially transparent overlay that covers a portion but not all of the display area, the overlay for displaying a set of selectable items for allowing a user of the first electronic device to configure the video conferencing application.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the video images are captured by a camera that is communicatively coupled to the first electronic device.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the set of user selectable items comprises a list of contacts retrieved from an address book of a user of the first electronic device.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the list of contacts comprises only contacts that are able to participate in a video conference.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the set of user selectable items comprises a list of the user'"'"'s favorite contacts.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the set of user selectable items comprises an option to add a contact to the favorites list.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the set of user selectable items comprises an option to remove a contact from the favorites list.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the set of user selectable items comprises a list of contacts with whom the user most recently participated in a video conference.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the transparency of the overlay is adjustable by the user.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein a selection of a first selectable item allows the user to view a first subset of the set of contacts and a selection of a second selectable item allows the user to view a second subset of the set of contacts.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the overlay is movable within the GUI to cover different portions of the display area.

22. A method for defining a video conferencing application for conducting a video conference between a first electronic device and a second electronic device, said method comprising:

providing a video display area for displaying video captured by the first electronic device; and

providing an at least partially transparent overlay display area superimposed on the video display area, the overlay display area for displaying a list of contacts of a user of the video conferencing application.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising providing a selectable item in the overlay display area for enabling the user to add a new contact to the list of contacts.

24. The method of claim 22 further comprising providing a selectable item in the overlay display area for enabling the user to remove a contact from a list of the user'"'"'s favorite contacts.

25. The method of claim 22 further comprising providing a selectable item in the overlay display area for enabling the user to add a contact to a list of the user'"'"'s favorite contacts.