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Teleconferencing imaging system with automatic camera steering

  • US 5,686,957 A
  • Filed: 06/30/1995
  • Issued: 11/11/1997
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/27/1994
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. An automatic audio controlled video camera steering system for electronic imaging and manipulation of a hemispheric field of view, comprising:

  • at least two microphones;

    audio detection circuitry connected to said microphones for determining which of said microphones is receiving audio energy;

    means for generating a signal representing the direction of the received audio energy based on signals from the microphones;

    a video camera for receiving optical images of the field of view and for producing video image output signals;

    an optical system associated with said video camera for producing the optical images from a hemispheric field of view for optical conveyance to said video camera, said optical system having a configuration that emphasizes the peripheral content of the panoramic field of view (when the central lens axis is oriented vertically) as compared to the central content of a hemispheric field of view, this being accomplished through differential magnification;

    an imager device associated with said camera for receiving the optical images from said lens and for providing digitized output signals;

    input image memory for receiving the digitized output signals from said imager device and for storing the digitized output signals;

    an image transform processor or set of circuits for selectively accessing and processing the digitized output signals from said input image memory according to user defined criteria;

    output image memory for receiving the processed signals from the image transform processor, andmeans connected to said output image memory from said hemispheric field of view for selecting a particular segmentized image from the hemispheric field of view representative of the direction from the camera of the microphone array determined to be receiving sound wave energy;

    an output display connected to said output image memory for displaying the signals in said output image memory according to the user defined criteria.

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