Workstation conference pointer-user association mechanism
First Claim
1. A communication conference support system for use with a first workstation of a computer system having a plurality of user workstations connected over a network and participating in a conference, including at least the first user workstation and a second user workstation, each workstation having a display device with a display screen on which is displayed a pointer icon and a mouse pointer device that controls movement of the pointer icon on the display device as the mouse pointer device is moved and that includes a mouse button, the support system of the first workstation comprising:
- position means for generating a signal that indicates the position of the pointer icon on the display device of the first user workstation and indicates the status of the workstation mouse button;
picture means for generating a representation of the system users in a conference window of the display device of the first user workstation;
designator means for generating a signal that identifies the first user workstation and indicates the location of the pointer icon and system user representation on the display device of the first user workstation;
a system interface that receives the position means signal, picture means representation, and designator means signal of the first workstation and arranges them in an information packet for transmission over the network; and
association means for receiving an information packet containing a position means signal, picture means representation, and designator means signal from the second workstation and any other workstations connected to the network and participating in the conference, and for drawing a line on the display device of the first user workstation connecting the display device location of a pointer icon identified by the designator means signal to the representation of the corresponding system user generated by the picture means signal for the second workstation and for all other conference participating user workstations of the system, thereby displaying a connecting line between the representations of all conference participants and their respective pointer icons except for the representation of a viewing participant and that participant'"'"'s pointer icon.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A conference communication system that includes multiple user terminals, each of which includes a display screen with a common working area, provides each user with a pointer icon that can be moved across all the display screens with a pointing device, provides the display screen of each user with a representation of all the conference participants, and, for each user, displays a line connecting each pointer icon of the other conference participants to the displayed representation of the user controlling the icon. Each user controls a pointer icon with a display mouse device having buttons, and the pointer icon and line connecting a user with the user'"'"'s pointer icon is only displayed on the screens of the other conference participants if the user has pressed and held down a button of the user'"'"'s mouse device. In this way, each user has control of a pointer icon and each pointer icon is readily associated with the user controlling it, while the number of objects displayed in the work area is kept to a minimum.
117 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A communication conference support system for use with a first workstation of a computer system having a plurality of user workstations connected over a network and participating in a conference, including at least the first user workstation and a second user workstation, each workstation having a display device with a display screen on which is displayed a pointer icon and a mouse pointer device that controls movement of the pointer icon on the display device as the mouse pointer device is moved and that includes a mouse button, the support system of the first workstation comprising:
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position means for generating a signal that indicates the position of the pointer icon on the display device of the first user workstation and indicates the status of the workstation mouse button; picture means for generating a representation of the system users in a conference window of the display device of the first user workstation; designator means for generating a signal that identifies the first user workstation and indicates the location of the pointer icon and system user representation on the display device of the first user workstation; a system interface that receives the position means signal, picture means representation, and designator means signal of the first workstation and arranges them in an information packet for transmission over the network; and association means for receiving an information packet containing a position means signal, picture means representation, and designator means signal from the second workstation and any other workstations connected to the network and participating in the conference, and for drawing a line on the display device of the first user workstation connecting the display device location of a pointer icon identified by the designator means signal to the representation of the corresponding system user generated by the picture means signal for the second workstation and for all other conference participating user workstations of the system, thereby displaying a connecting line between the representations of all conference participants and their respective pointer icons except for the representation of a viewing participant and that participant'"'"'s pointer icon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A video conference support system for use in a first user workstation and at least a second user workstation connected by a network server that controls communications between the workstations, each user workstation having a video display device with a display screen on which is displayed a pointer icon and having a mouse pointer device that includes a mouse button and controls movement of the pointer icon on the display device as the mouse pointer device is moved, the conference support system comprising:
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an image generator in each workstation that provides a video representation signal of the user at each system workstation; a communication interface in each workstation that digitizes the video representation signal provided by each respective image generator and that transmits information packets over the network; a pointer icon indicator in each workstation that generates a signal indicating the position of the pointer icon on the display device of each respective user workstation as the pointer icon of the user workstation is moved; a mouse device detector in each workstation that generates a signal identifying each respective user workstation and pointer icon location on the display device when the pointer button of the respective user workstation is pressed; a line generator in each user workstation that draws respective lines on the display device of the respective user workstation that connects a pointer icon identified by the button detector of each other respective workstation to the representation of the corresponding user of the workstation generated by the image generator for all of the other user workstations of the system; and a conference interface in each workstation that generates information packets containing the user workstation identification and mouse pointer icon position information when a user presses the mouse button of the user'"'"'s workstation mouse device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of maintaining communications between users at conference workstations of a network, wherein each workstation in the network includes a display device on which is displayed a conference window having a pointer icon and includes a mouse pointer device having a mouse button and controlling a pointer icon on the display device as the workstation mouse pointer device is moved, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating a display representation of each conference participant; displaying the conference participant representations in the conference window of the display device of each conference participant workstation; determining when a first conference participant has pressed the mouse button of the participant'"'"'s workstation mouse device; determining the display device location of the pointer icon of the button pressing first conference participant at the time of the button pressing; and displaying a pointer arrow in the conference window of the display devices of all the remaining conference participants extending from each respective display device representation of the button pressing first conference participant to the determined pointer icon location of the button pressing first conference participant, thereby displaying a connecting line between the representations of all conference participants and their respective pointer icons except for the representation of a viewing participant and that participant'"'"'s pointer icon. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A communication conference support system for use with a first workstation that communicates with a plurality of other workstations under control of a network server while participating in a network conference, each user conference workstation having a display device on which is displayed a pointer icon of the respective workstation and a mouse pointer device that controls movement of the pointer icon on the display device as the mouse pointer device is moved and that includes a mouse button;
- the support system of the first workstation comprising;
position means for generating a signal that indicates the position of the pointer icon on the display device of the first workstation and indicates the status of the mouse button; an image capture device that generates a representation of the user at the first workstation; designator means for generating a signal that identifies the user at the first workstation and indicates the location of a pointer icon and a workstation representation displayed on the display device of the first workstation; and association means for drawing a line on the display device of the first workstation that connects the pointer icon of each respective other workstation identified by the designator means to the representation of the corresponding workstation. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
- the support system of the first workstation comprising;
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39. A communication conference support system for use in a first workstation that communicates with a plurality of respective other conference participating workstations through a network server that controls communications between the workstations, the first and respective other workstations each having a display device on which is displayed a pointer icon and a mouse pointer device that controls movement of the pointer icon on the display device as the mouse pointer device is moved and that includes a mouse button;
- the conference support system of the first workstation comprising;
an image generator that provides a video representation of the user at the first workstation; a communication interface that digitizes the video representation provided by the image generator and that transmits information packets over the network; a pointer icon indicator that generates a signal indicating the position of the pointer icon on the display device of the first workstation as the pointer icon is moved; a mouse device detector that generates a signal identifying the first workstation and the pointer icon location on the display device of the first workstation when the pointer button of the first workstation is pressed; a conference interface that generates information packets containing the first workstation identification and mouse pointer icon position information when the first workstation user presses the mouse button of the first workstation mouse device and receives corresponding information packets from the respective other workstations; and a line generator that draws a line on the first workstation display device that connects the pointer icon identified by the button detector to the representation of the corresponding system user generated by the image generator. - View Dependent Claims (40)
- the conference support system of the first workstation comprising;
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41. A method of maintaining conference communication by a first workstation participating with respective other workstations of a network during a user conference, wherein each workstation includes a display device on which is displayed a conference window with a pointer icon and a mouse pointer device that includes a mouse button and controls movement of the pointer icon as the first workstation mouse pointer device is moved, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating a signal representation of each conference participant workstation user for display on the first workstation and respective other workstation display devices; displaying the conference participant representations in the conference window of the first workstation and respective other workstation display devices; determining when one of the other respective conference participants has pressed the mouse button of that participant'"'"'s workstation mouse device; determining the display device pointer icon location of the button pressing conference participant; and displaying a pointer arrow on the display device of the first workstation from the display device representation of the button pressing conference participant to the determined display pointer icon location of the button pressing conference participant. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. In a system having a first workstation and a plurality of other workstations comprising a network, the workstations communicating with each other during a user conference, wherein each workstation includes a display device on which is displayed a conference window with a representation of a user at each workstation, a pointer icon, and a mouse pointer device that includes a mouse button and controls movement of the pointer icon as the first workstation mouse pointer device is moved, a method of associating the pointer icons of the respective user representations on the display with the respective user representations, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating a signal representation of each workstation user for display on the first workstation and respective other workstation display devices; displaying the conference participant representations in the conference window of the first workstation and respective other workstation display devices; determining when one of the respective conference participants other than the user at the first workstation has pressed the mouse button of that participant'"'"'s workstation mouse device; determining the display device pointer icon location of the button pressing conference participant; and displaying a pointer arrow on the display device of the first workstation from the display device representation of the button pressing conference participant to the determined display pointer icon location of the button pressing conference participant, thereby displaying a connecting line between the representations of all conference participants and their respective pointer icons except for the representation of a viewing participant and that participant'"'"'s pointer icon. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification