Automated online broadcasting system and method using an omni-directional camera system for viewing meetings over a computer network
First Claim
1. An automated event presentation system for capturing and viewing an event having event participants, comprising:
- an omni-directional camera system that provides a seamless onmi-directional image of the event and that automatically tracks event participants simultaneously to determine the event participants that are speaking using audio analysis including a microphone-array sound source localization technique to alleviate camera view switching delays and films the event;
an automated online broadcasting system including a tracker module that controls and uses the omni-directional camera system and video tracking techniques to monitor and keep track of each of the tracked event participants simultaneously, and broadcasts the event;
a virtual director module using a probabilistic finite state machine and receiving as input audio and video tracking results to automatically select at least a portion of the omni-directional image as an output view; and
a viewer platform in communication with the automated online broadcasting system that allows a viewer to view the output view of the broadcasted event.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An automated system and method for broadcasting meetings over a computer network. The meeting is filmed using an omni-directional camera system and capable of being presented to a viewer both live and on-demand. The system of the present invention includes an automated camera management system for controlling the camera system and an analysis module determining the location of meeting participants in the meeting environments. The method of the present invention includes using the system of the present invention to broadcast an event to a viewer over a computer network. In particular, the method includes filming the event using an omni-directional camera system. Next, the method determines the location of each event participant in the event environment. Finally, a viewer is provided with a user interface for viewing the broadcast event. This user interface allows a viewer to choose which event participant that the viewer would like to view.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An automated event presentation system for capturing and viewing an event having event participants, comprising:
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an omni-directional camera system that provides a seamless onmi-directional image of the event and that automatically tracks event participants simultaneously to determine the event participants that are speaking using audio analysis including a microphone-array sound source localization technique to alleviate camera view switching delays and films the event;
an automated online broadcasting system including a tracker module that controls and uses the omni-directional camera system and video tracking techniques to monitor and keep track of each of the tracked event participants simultaneously, and broadcasts the event;
a virtual director module using a probabilistic finite state machine and receiving as input audio and video tracking results to automatically select at least a portion of the omni-directional image as an output view; and
a viewer platform in communication with the automated online broadcasting system that allows a viewer to view the output view of the broadcasted event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for filming and recording an event having event participants and presenting the event to a viewer, comprising:
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filming and recording the event using an omni-directional camera system to provide a seamless omni-directional image that contains each of the event participants;
automatically determining a location of the event participants in the omni-directional image by using a speaker detection technique to determine the event participants that are speaking;
tracking multiple event participants simultaneously using the-speaker detection technique and a video tracking technique;
providing a user interface that allows a choice of which of the event participants in the omni-directional image to view, the choice being made by at least one of;
(a) manually by the viewer and (b) automatically by a virtual director that uses a probabilistic finite state machine and receives as input audio and video tracking results from the speaker detection and video tracking techniques; and
switching instantaneously between views of the event participants in the omni-directional image in response to the choice. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for displaying at least a portion of a seamless omni-directional image capturing an event occurring within an event environment, comprising:
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filming the event and automatically tracking multiple event participants simultaneously using audio and video processing techniques and a single omni-directional camera system having a single camera to produce the seamless omni-directional image;
transmitting the omni-directional image from a broadcasting platform to a viewer platform using a computer network;
using a probabilistic finite state machine that receives as input audio and video tracking results from the audio and video processing techniques to automatically select which portion of the omni-directional image to view;
using the viewer platform to allow a viewer to select as one state of the probabilistic finite state machine which portion of the omni-directional image the viewer would like to view; and
switching instantaneously between views of the omni-directional image by presenting a desired portion of the omni-directional image as selected by the viewer. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. An automated event presentation system for capturing an event, comprising:
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a high-resolution onmi-directional camera system that provides an omni-directional image of the event, the omni-directional image containing multiple camera views;
an automated online broadcasting system capable of broadcasting the omni-directional image over a computer network;
a viewer platform in communication with computer network that receives the omni-directional image; and
a virtual director module within the automated online broadcasting system that uses a probabilistic finite state machine and receives as input audio and video tracking results to determine which of the multiple camera views within the omni-directional image to display on the viewer platform by applying a set of expert production rules based at least in part on a display history of an event participant. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. An automated event presentation system for capturing and viewing an event having multiple event participants, comprising:
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an omni-directional camera system that provides a seamless omni-directional image of the event;
a tracker module that determines a number of the multiple event participants and automatically tracks the number of multiple event participants simultaneously within the omni-directional image using audio-based tracking techniques and video-based tracking techniques combined in a probabilistic manner to obtain audio and video tracking results;
a virtual director module that uses a probabilistic finite state machine and receives as input the audio and video tracking results to automatically select without user intervention at least a portion of the omni-directional image for use as an output view;
an automated online broadcasting system that broadcasts the output view and the omni-directional image over a computer network; and
a viewer platform in communication with the automated online broadcasting system that allows a viewer to view at least one of;
(a) the output view;
(b) the omni-directional image. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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Specification