Method and apparatus for controlling a video camera in a video conferencing system
First Claim
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1. A video conference station, comprising:
- an image analyzer to receive video frames from a communicatively coupled first camera, to detect one or more conference participants within the received video frames and to detect an active participant within the one or more conference participants; and
a camera controller, coupled to the image analyzer, to control a second camera based, at least in part, on detecting the active participant, wherein the image analyzer detects one or more conference participants by detecting one or more heads in the received video frames corresponding to one or more conference participants, wherein the image analyzer detects an active participant by detecting which conference participant is currently speaking, and wherein the image analyzer detects which participant is currently speaking by analyzing the received video frame to detect motion in a lower half of the detected head of one or more conference participants.
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Abstract
A video conference station is disclosed comprising an image analyzer and a camera controller. The image analyzer receives video frames from a communicatively coupled first camera, detects the head of one or more conference participants within the received video frames and detects an active participant from the one or more conference participants. The camera controller, coupled to the image analysis circuit, controls a second camera based, at least in part, on detecting the active participant.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A video conference station, comprising:
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an image analyzer to receive video frames from a communicatively coupled first camera, to detect one or more conference participants within the received video frames and to detect an active participant within the one or more conference participants; and
a camera controller, coupled to the image analyzer, to control a second camera based, at least in part, on detecting the active participant, wherein the image analyzer detects one or more conference participants by detecting one or more heads in the received video frames corresponding to one or more conference participants, wherein the image analyzer detects an active participant by detecting which conference participant is currently speaking, and wherein the image analyzer detects which participant is currently speaking by analyzing the received video frame to detect motion in a lower half of the detected head of one or more conference participants. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A video conference station, comprising:
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an image analyzer to receive video frames from a communicatively coupled first camera, to detect one or more conference participants within the received video frames and to detect an active participant within the one or more conference participants; and
a camera controller, coupled to the image analyzer, to control a second camera based, at least in part, on detecting the active participant, wherein the image analyzer detects an active conference participant by analyzing the received video frames to detect motion in a lower half of detected heads associated with the one or more conference participants. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A video conference system comprising a plurality of video conference stations, at least one of which comprising:
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an image analyzer to receive video frames from a communicatively coupled first camera, to detect one or more conference participants within the received video frames and to detect an active participant within the one or more conference participants; and
a camera controller, coupled to the image analyzer, to control a second camera based, at least in part, on detecting the active participant, wherein the image analyzer detects an active conference participant by detecting which participant is currently speaking, and wherein the image analyzer detects which conference participant is currently speaking by analyzing the received video frames to detect motion in a lower half of detected heads associated with the one or more conference participants. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A method for featuring an active video conference participant in a video conferencing session, the method comprising:
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(a) analyzing at least a subset of video frames received from a first video camera to detect an active participant from one or more detected conference participants; and
(b) controlling a second video camera to frame and focus the second video camera on the active participant based, at least in part, on the result of said analysis, wherein detecting the active participant comprises;
receiving two or more video frames from the first video camera;
detecting one or more conference participant heads; and
monitoring a portion of the received video frames associated with a lower half of each of the one or more detected conference participant heads for movement denoting speech. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
(c) selecting a video feed from the second camera, while continuing in parallel with steps (a) and (b).
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Specification