Systems And Methodologies Providing For Collaboration By Respective Users Of A Plurality Of Computing Appliances Working Concurrently On A Common Project Having An Associated Display

• US 20120284641A1
• Filed: 05/06/2011
• Published: 11/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Collaboration Technologies, LLC
• Original Assignee: David H Sitrick
• Inventors: Sitrick, David H., Fling, Russell T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,918,721 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/197 Version control for software G06F8/71
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/101 Collaborative creation, e.g. joint development of products or services

Abstract

A system and methodology for collaborating. A plurality of computing appliances for use by a respective plurality of users, provides a combined display presentation of collaboration responsive to input of annotations made by at least two of the users working simultaneously on a common project having an associated common display presentation comprising a base image display combined with a display of the annotations as made by the at least two of the users. The system is comprised of layer storage comprising a plurality of separate respective data layers, providing associatively mapped storage of respective user data wherein each said data layer is associated with a respective user. Each said data layer of storage stores respective user data that is used to generate a respective display of respective user annotations as input by the respective user, as made relative to a display presentation of the base image display. Display control logic provides individualized selective control of utilization of each said separate respective data layer, as selected layers that are utilized in generation of a combined display presentation. The display control logic provides generation of the combined display presentation showing the collaboration of the respective ones of the users responsive to utilizing the respective ones of the selected data layers. In one embodiment, the system is further comprised of communication apparatus providing voice (and/or video) communication between each of at least two of the plurality of users, during the providing of the respective combined display presentation to said each of said at least two of the plurality of users, and the input of annotations by the users.

Claims

1. A system for collaboration, comprising:

a plurality of computing appliances each for use by each of a respective user of a plurality of users in providing for collaboration by respective ones of the users working on a common project having an associated base image display;

layer storage comprising a plurality of separate respective data layers of storage;

wherein each said separate respective data layer provides associatively mapped storage of respective user data associated with a respective display for a respective user of the plurality of users;

wherein each said data layer of storage stores respective user data that is representative of a respective display of annotations as input by the respective user;

the system further comprising;

display control logic providing individualized selective control of utilization of each said separate respective data layer for each of the respective one of at least two of the users, as selected layers that are utilized in generation of a combined display presentation; and

display generation providing generation of the combined display presentation utilizing the selected layers for showing the collaboration of the respective ones of the users responsive to the display control logic.

2. The system as in claim 1,

wherein each user is associated with a separate display apparatus which provides a local display presentation of a version of the combined display presentation thereupon.

3. The system as in claim 2,

wherein the display generation of a local display presentation at each user'"'"'s respective display apparatus is controlled separately for each user and can provide for inclusion in the generation of the display of:

only a base image;

the base image and annotations associated with a selected one of the data layers;

the base image and the annotations associated with multiple selected ones of the data layers; and

the base image and all the annotations as associated with all of the data layers.

4. The system as in claim 1,

wherein the respective computing appliance for each respective user is comprised of local display control logic providing for selection of associated selected ones of the annotations responsive to selection of the respective users associated therewith;

and

wherein the display generation is responsive to the annotations associated with the selected ones of the plurality of users.

5. The system as in claim 2,

wherein a same display presentation is provided at each separate display apparatus.

6. The system as in claim 2,

wherein the display generation provides a separate independent and different display presentation at each of at least two of the display apparatus.

7. The system as in claim 2,

wherein the display control logic controls selection by user as to usage of respective annotations of the respective user for use in generation of separate associated display presentations at each of at least two of the separate display apparatus.

8. The system as in claim 1,

wherein the display control logic is responsive to selection by a respective user to provide selection as to utilization of certain selected portions of the user data for use in the generation of the combined display presentation.

9. The system as in claim 1, further comprising:

display enable control logic defining a display enable mode for each of a plurality of respective data layers for each of the respective plurality of users on a user-by-user individual basis as to each individual said user of the plurality of users; and

wherein the display generation is responsive to the display enable mode for each of a plurality of respective data layers for controlling showing of the selected ones of the annotations in the combined display presentation.

10. The system as in claim 1, further comprising:

edit control logic controlling and enabling input of the annotations and storage of the respective user data for the annotations, controlled separately as to each separate respective data layer.

11. The system as in claim 1,

wherein the layer storage is further comprised of a base layer of storage of base image data representative of a respective base image display;

and

wherein the display control logic provides selection of the base layer and at least one of the plurality of data layers to provide the selected layers to be utilized in the display generation.

12. The system as in claim 11,

wherein the generation is of a combined display presentation responsive to the selected layers and the base layer;

and

wherein the combined display presentation is comprised of the base image combined with the respective display of images for the respective annotations for the selected layers.

13. The system as in claim 1,

wherein each of the plurality of computing appliances is associated as a respective one computing appliance for each respective one user of the plurality of users;

wherein each of the plurality of computing appliances is further comprised of its own local layer storage of data layers;

wherein changes to the respective user data for at least one user is stored in the associated local layer storage of each of at least two of the plurality of computing appliances; and

wherein said changes to the user data are communicated between each of at least two of the plurality of computing appliances so that the respective said local layer storage of each one of the at least two of the plurality of computing appliances is updated to contain a same singular content comprised at least in part of the changes.

14. The system as in claim 13,

wherein the updating is done repetitively.

15. The system as in claim 1,

wherein the layer storage is comprised of duplicated sets of data layers stored in a centralized layer storage and in a plurality of local layer storage in each of the plurality of computing appliances;

wherein each of the plurality of computing appliances is associated with a respective one of the plurality of users;

wherein each of the plurality of computing appliances is associated with a respective data layer of the respective local layer storage; and

wherein changes to the user data in any of the duplicated sets of data layers, are communicated to other ones of the duplicated set of data layers, so that the centralized layer storage and the respective plurality of local layer storage are synchronized to each other, and changes are updated repetitively.

16. The system as in claim 1, further comprising:

communication apparatus providing voice communication between each of at least two of the plurality of users, during the respective display presentation to the respective users.

17. The system as in claim 1,

wherein the layer storage is comprised of local layer storage within at least two of the plurality of computing appliances;

wherein the respective user data for respective annotations as input by each said respective user is first stored locally within an associated local layer of said local layer storage, as changed user data that is associated with the respective user of the respective input; and

the system further comprising;

update logic for copying the changed user data from a respective local layer of storage in at least two of the plurality of computing appliances by communicating the changed user data from each said local layer for storage in the local layer storage of the one of the plurality of computing appliances to at least one other one of the plurality of computing appliances for storage in the respective corresponding said local layers in the local layer storage therein.

18. The system as in claim 17,

wherein the update logic provides for copying the changed user data from a first said respective one of the computing appliances to all other ones of the other ones of the plurality of computing appliances.

19. The system as in claim 17,

wherein a plurality of local layers in a plurality of computing appliances have changed user data stored therein;

and

wherein the update logic provides for copying any of the changed user data to all of the other ones of the plurality of computing appliances.

20. The system as in claim 1,

wherein the layer storage is further comprised of central layer storage of all the data layers for all users.

21. The system as in claim 17,

wherein local layer storage in each said computing appliance provides initial storage of its respective said user'"'"'s edits which said local layer storage in each said computing appliance of the plurality of computing appliances, is controlled to copy change data between the respective local layer storage.

28. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

defining a display enable mode for each of a plurality of respective data layers for each of the respective plurality of users on a user-by-user individual basis as to each individual said user of the plurality of users; and

controlling showing of the selected ones of the annotations in the combined display presentation responsive to the display enable mode for each of a plurality of respective data layers.

22. A method of collaborating, utilizing a plurality of computing appliances each for use by each of a respective user of a plurality of users in working on a common project having an associated base image display, the method comprising:

providing associatively mapped storage in a respective data layer within layer storage comprising a plurality of separate respective data layers of storage, of respective user data associated with a respective display of the respective user data that is associated with a specific respective user of the plurality of users;

wherein each said data layer of storage stores respective user data that is representative of a respective display of annotations as input by the respective user;

the method further comprising;

providing individualized selective control of utilization of each said separate respective data layer, as selected layers that are utilized in generation of a combined display presentation for each respective one of at least two of the users; and

providing generation of a combined display presentation utilizing the selected layers for showing the collaboration of the respective ones of the users.

23. The system as in claim 22, further comprising:

separately controlling the display generation of a local display presentation for each user to provide for selective inclusion of the data layers in the generation.

24. The method as in claim 23,

wherein the display generation is comprised of:

only a base image;

the base image and annotations associated with a selected one of the user layers;

the base image and the annotations associated with multiple selected ones of the user layers; and

of the base image and all the annotations as associated with all of the user layers.

25. The method as in claim 22, further comprising:

providing for selection of associated selected ones of the annotations responsive to selection of selected ones of the respective users associated therewith; and

providing the display generation is responsive to the annotations associated with the selected one of the plurality of users.

26. The method as in claim 22, further comprising:

controlling selection by user as to usage of respective annotations of the respective user for use in generation of separate associated display presentations at each of at least two of the computing appliances.

27. The method as in claim 22, further comprising:

providing for a same display presentation to each of the plurality of computing appliances.

29. The method as in claim 22, further comprising:

controlling permitting of input of the annotations and storage of the respective said user data for the annotations, controlled separately as to each separate respective said data layer of storage.

30. The method as in claim 22, further comprising:

storing changes to the respective user data for at least one user in the associated local layer storage of each of at least two of the plurality of computing appliances; and

communicating each of said changes between each of at least two of the plurality of computing appliances so that the respective said local layer storage of each one of the at least two of the plurality of computing appliances is updated to contain a same singular content comprised at least in part of the changes.

31. The method as in claim 22, further comprising:

providing voice communication between each of at least two of the plurality of users, during the respective display presentation to the respective users.