IMMERSIVE AND INTERACTIVE VIDEOCONFERENCE ROOM ENVIRONMENT

• US 20150085061A1
• Filed: 10/11/2013
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sun, Qibin, Zhang, Zhishou, Wee, Susie, Zhang, Yajun, You, Yi, Chen, Kai
• Granted Patent: US 9,609,030 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.07
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1446 display composed of modules, e.g. video walls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4015 where at least one of the additional parallel sessions is real time or time sensitive, e.g. white board sharing, collaboration or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control
• 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 7/152 Multipoint control units therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

An arrangement for a collaborative videoconferencing environment is disclosed. A display having a substantially “L-shaped” configuration allows for display of collaborative materials and video of remote participants simultaneously, which provides for a more natural interaction for a meeting participant interacting with the collaborative materials. Additionally, a camera is arranged to focus on the meeting participants shoulder while the meeting participant is interacting with the collaborative materials. Such location of the camera provides a more natural view of the collaborator to remote users.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a display dividable into a collaboration section and a video section, the collaboration section and the video section being offset at an angle less than 180 degrees;

a shoulder view camera positioned proximate to the video section of the video screen and configured to capture a presenter area proximate to the collaboration section of the video screen, and to capture a meeting participant area.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a display processor configured to divide the display into the collaboration section and the video section in a collaborative mode.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the display processor is further configured to output a collaboration workspace to the collaboration section of the display, and to output a teleconference video to the video section of the display.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the display processor is configured to transition the divided display in the collaborative mode into a full screen panoramic video display in a panorama mode.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the display further comprises:

a first section;

a central section positioned adjacent to, and between, the first and a third section;

the third section, each section being offset from its adjacent section by an angle of less than 180 degrees.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first or the third section is the collaboration section, and the remaining sections are collectively the video section.

7. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

a panoramic camera positioned in a substantially central location about the display, the panoramic camera being configured to record a panoramic video in the panorama mode, and the shoulder view camera being configured to record video in the collaborative mode.

8. A videoconferencing system comprising:

a local videoconference display including;

a first section;

a central section positioned adjacent to, and between, the first and a third section;

the third section, each section being offset from its adjacent section by an angle of less than 180 degrees.

9. The videoconferencing system of claim 8 comprising:

a video processor configured to assign each of the first section, central section, and third section to a either a collaboration mode or a video mode.

10. The videoconferencing system of claim 9 comprising:

a videoconference client configured to display a video image from a remote site onto the display sections assigned to the video mode; and

a collaborative system controller configured to display a collaborative workspace from a remote site onto the display sections assigned to the collaboration mode.

11. The videoconferencing system of claim 9 comprising:

shoulder view camera positioned proximate to one of the first or third section of the display that is assigned to video mode, and configured to capture a presenter area proximate to the other of the first or third section of the display that is assigned to the collaboration mode;

a videoconference client configured to transmit a video image captured by the shoulder view camera to a videoconferencing server; and

a collaborative system controller configured to transmit interactions with the collaborative workspace to a collaborative system server.

12. The videoconferencing system of claim 8 comprising:

a room view camera positioned opposite the display, and configured to capture a presenter area proximate to the display; and

a videoconference client configured to transmit a video image captured by the room view camera to a videoconferencing server.

13. A videoconferencing room arrangement comprising:

a collaborative-videoconferencing display arrangement being in a substantially concave configuration, the display being configured to simultaneously display video content in a video section of the display and the collaborative workspace in a collaborative section of the display;

a presenter area adjacent to the collaborative section of the display; and

a shoulder-view video camera configured to capture the presenter area.

14. The videoconferencing room arrangement of claim 13 comprising:

a foreground meeting participant area positioned further from the collaboration section of the display than the presenter area.

15. The videoconferencing room arrangement of claim 14 comprising:

a background meeting participant area further away from the display than the foreground meeting participant area such that a person or object in the foreground meeting participant area can obscure from view, by the shoulder camera, a person or object in the background meeting participant area; and

a communications interface configured to electronically interface with a meeting participant in the background meeting participant area.

16. The videoconferencing room arrangement of claim 13 comprising:

a first speaker located behind the a collaboration section of the display, and a second speaker located behind the collaboration section of the display.