Method and system for conferencing

• US 6,976,220 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2000
• Issued: 12/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Lapstun, Paul, Silverbrook, Kia, Lapstun, Jacqueline Anne
• Primary Examiner(s): Cabeca, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): BASOM, BLAINE T
• Application Number:
  US09/607,852
• Time in Patent Office: 1,992 Days
• Field of Search: 345/751, 345/753, 345/179, 382/314, 382/317, 382/313, 382/312, 709/204, 709/205, 709/206, 709/207, 715/511, 235/454, 235/462.15, 178/18.01, 358/402
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/608 Watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/805 Lightweight hardware, e.g. radio-frequency identification [RFID] or sensor
• 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 9/3231 Biological data, e.g. fingerprint, voice or retina network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using biometrical features in a packet data network H04L63/0861
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 118/15 Roller structure

Abstract

A system and method for enabling remote conferencing between conference participants involves the use of one or more forms that support interaction with a computer system or network. Each form is printed on sheet material such as paper and includes coded data that allows it to be used to interact with the computer system via a sensing device operated by a user. The system and method can be employed by geographically distributed participants to communicate graphical ideas via a shared ‘whiteboard’ using interactive surface media while engaged in a telephone conference. Every time a participant adds a modification or a new diagram to the whiteboard, the other participants can be provided with a printed copy of the updated page.

Claims

1. A method of enabling remote conferencing between conference participants

via at least one conferencing form containing information relating to a remote conferencing session and including coded data indicative of an identity of the conferencing form and of at least one reference point of the conferencing form

and via at least one recipient conferencing form remote from said at least one conferencing form and containing information representative of at least one parameter relating to the conferencing session and including recipient coded data indicative of an identity of the recipient conferencing form and of at least one reference point of the recipient conferencing form, the method including the steps of;

in a computer system;

associating the identity of the conferencing form with a description;

causing the conferencing form to be printed by printing the information and the coded data;

receiving, indicating data from a sensing device operated by a conference participant involved in the conference session, said indicating data regarding the identity of the conferencing form and a position of the sensing device relative to the conferencing form, the sensing device, when placed in an operative position relative to the conferencing form, sensing at least some of the coded data and generating the indicating data using at least some of the sensed coded data;

identifying from the indicating data, the at least one parameter relating to the conferencing session;

associating an identity of a recipient conferencing form with the description, the identity of the recipient conferencing form being different to the identity of the conferencing form;

causing the recipient conferencing form to be printed by printing the information and the coded data;

receiving, recipient indicating data from a recipient sensing device operated by another conference participant involved in the conference session, said recipient indicating data regarding the identity of the recipient conferencing form and a position of the recipient sensing device relative to the recipient conferencing form, the recipient sensing device, when placed in an operative position relative to the recipient conferencing form, sensing at least some of the recipient coded data and generating the recipient indicating data using at least some of the sensed recipient coded data; and

generating a “

tree”

of versions of the conferencing form, wherein the indicating data is used to create a first version of the conferencing form associated with the identity of the conferencing form and the recipient indicating data is used to create a second version of the conferencing form associated with the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

2. The method of claim 1 in which said at least one parameter relating to the conferencing session is associated with at least one zone of the conferencing form, and in which the method includes identifying, in the computer system and from the zone relative to which the sensing device is located, said at least one parameter.

3. The method of claim 2 which includes

receiving, in the computer system, data regarding movement of the sensing device relative to the conferencing form, the sensing device sensing its movement relative to the conferencing form, using at least some of the coded data;

and

identifying, in the computer system and from said movement being at least partially within said at least one zone, said at least one parameter of the conferencing session.

5. The method of claim 1 or claim 4, in which the parameter is an action parameter of the remote conferencing session, the method including effecting, in the computer system, an operation in respect of the action parameter.

6. The method of claim 5, in which the action parameter of the remote conferencing session is selected from the group comprising:

sending an invitation to a conference session;

starting a conference session;

ending a conference session;

viewing the history of a conference session;

sending a message to a participant during a conference session;

viewing messages sent during a conference session;

ordering the printing of a palette of available line styles and colors;

ordering the printing of a whiteboard page;

updating a whiteboard page; and

ordering the reprinting of a new whiteboard page.

7. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 in which the parameter is an option parameter of the remote conferencing session, the method including identifying, in the computer system, that the participant has entered a hand-drawn mark by means of a sensing device and effecting, in the computer system, an operation associated with the option parameter.

8. The method of claim 7 in which the option parameter is associated with at least one of:

an access level;

a message recipient;

a line style; and

a line color.

9. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 in which the parameter is a text parameter of the remote conferencing session, the method including identifying, in the computer system, that the participant has entered handwritten text data by means of the sensing device and effecting, in the computer system, an operation associated with the text parameter.

10. The method of claim 9 which includes converting, in the computer system, the handwritten text data to computer text.

11. The method of claim 9 in which the text parameter is associated with at least one of:

a session description;

a conference start date;

a start time;

an end time;

a participant identification;

a conference session purpose;

a message subject description; and

a message text.

12. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 in which the parameter is an authorization parameter of the remote conferencing session, the method including identifying, in the computer system, that the participant has entered a handwritten signature by means of the sensing device and effecting, in the computer system, an operation associated with the authorization parameter.

13. The method of claim 12 which includes verifying, in the computer system, that the signature is that of the participant.

14. The method of claim 13 in which the authorization parameter is associated with updating a whiteboard page.

15. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 in which the parameter is a graphical parameter of the remote conferencing session, the method including identifying, in the computer system, that the participant has entered hand-drawn graphical information by means of the sensing device and effecting, in the computer system, an operation associated with the graphical parameter.

16. The method of claim 15 in which the graphical parameter is associated with a markup to a whiteboard page.

17. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 in which at least one of the one or more conferencing forms contains information relating to at least one of:

booking a conference session;

cancelling a conference session;

controlling a conference session;

selecting invitees to a conference session;

inviting participants to a conference session;

composing messages in a conference session;

sending messages in a conference session;

viewing messages in a conference session;

printing a palette of available line styles and colors in a conference session;

selecting a line style and color in a conference session;

viewing the history of a conference session;

printing whiteboard pages;

updating whiteboard pages;

reprinting whiteboard pages;

pasting content to whiteboard pages; and

ending a conference session.

18. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 wherein the conferencing form is printed on paper.

19. The method of claim 1 or 4 which includes printing the conferencing form on a surface of a surface-defining means and, at the same time that the conferencing form is printed, printing the coded data on the surface.

20. The method of claim 19 which includes printing the coded data to be substantially invisible in the visible spectrum.

21. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 which includes retaining a retrievable record of each conferencing form generated, the conferencing form being retrievable using its identity as contained in its coded data.

22. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 which includes distributing a plurality of the conferencing forms using a mixture of multicast and pointcast communications protocols.

23. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 in which the sensing device contains an identification means which imparts a unique identity to the sensing device and identifies it as being associated with a particular conference participant and in which the method includes monitoring, in the computer system, said identity.

24. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 which includes providing all required information relating to the remote conferencing session on the at least one conferencing form, to eliminate the need for a separate display device.

25. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 in which the conferencing form is provided on multiple pages and in which the method includes binding the pages.

26. The method of claim 1 or claim 4 in which the conference participants are provided with telephone communication means for simultaneous use during the remote conferencing session.

47. The method of claim 1 or 4, wherein the “

tree”

of versions branches when the first version of the conferencing form is modifed after the second version of the conferencing form is created.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein each version in the “

tree”

of versions records the date and time the version was created, the conference participant who made markups on the version, and contents of the markups.

51. The method of claim 47, wherein the “

tree”

of versions is printed on a conferencing form using thumbnail images.

53. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method includes, in the computer system, causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the description and at least one of:

the indicating data; and

,

the recipient indicating data.

54. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method includes, in the computer system:

determining, from the indicating data, at least one value relating to the at least one parameter;

determining, from the recipient indicating data, at least one recipient value relating to the at least one parameter; and

,

generating a tree of versions by storing the at least one value associated with the identity of the conferencing form and by storing the at least one recipient value associated with the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

55. A method according to claim 54, wherein the method includes, in the computer system, causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the description and at least one of:

the at least one value; and

,

the at least one recipient value.

56. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method includes, in the computer system:

receiving, from a sensing device, version data indicative of a version of the conferencing form; and

,

causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the version data.

57. A method according to claim 56, wherein the method includes, in the computer system, identifying from the version data at least one of:

the identity of the conferencing form; and

,

the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

4. A method of enabling remote conferencing between conference participants

via at least one conferencing form containing information relating to a remote conferencing session and including coded data indicative of an identity of the conferencing form and at least one parameter of the remote conferencing session

and via at least one recipient conferencing form remote from said conferencing form and containing information relating to a remote conferencing session and including recipient coded data indicative of an identity of the recipient conferencing form and at least one parameter of the remote conferencing session, the method including the steps of;

in the computer system;

associating an identity of a conferencing form with a description, the identity of the recipient conferencing form being different to the identity of the conferencing form;

causing the conferencing form to be printed by printing the information and the coded data;

receiving, indicating data from a sensing device operated by a first conference participant, the indicating data being indicative of the identity of the conferencing form said at least one parameter and movement of the sensing device relative to the conferencing form, the sensing device, when moved relative to the conferencing form, sensing at least some of the coded data and generating the indicating data using at least some of the sensed coded data;

interpreting, said movement of the sensing device as it relates to said at least one parameter;

associating the identity of the recipient conferencing form with the description;

causing the recipient conferencing form to be printed by printing the information and the coded data;

receiving, recipient indicating data from a recipient sensing device operated by a second conference participant, the recipient indicating data being indicative of the identity of the recipient conferencing form said at least one parameter and movement of the recipient sensing device relative to the recipient conferencing form, the recipient sensing device, when moved relative to the recipient conferencing form, sensing at least some of the recipient coded data and generating the recipient indicating data using at least some of the sensed recipient coded data; and

generating a “

tree”

of versions of the conferencing form, wherein the indicating data is used to create a first version of the conferencing form associated with the identity of the conferencing form and the recipient indicating data is used to create a second version of the conferencing form associated with the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

58. A method according to claim 4, wherein the method includes, in the computer system, causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the description and at least one of:

the indicating data; and

,

the recipient indicating data.

59. A method according to claim 4, wherein the method includes, in the computer system:

determining, from the indicating data, at least one value relating to the at least one parameter;

determining, from the recipient indicating data, at least one recipient value relating to the at least one parameter; and

,

generating a tree of versions by storing the at least one value associated with the identity of the conferencing form and by storing the at least one recipient value associated with the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

60. A method according to claim 59, wherein the method includes, in the computer system, causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the description and at least one of:

the at least one value; and

,

the at least one recipient value.

61. A method according to claim 4, wherein the method includes, in the computer system:

receiving, from a sensing device, version data indicative of a version of the conferencing form; and

,

causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the version data.

62. A method according to claim 61, wherein the method includes, in the computer system, identifying from the version data at least one of:

the identity of the conferencing form; and

,

the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

27. A system for enabling remote conferencing between conference participants, the system including:

at least one conferencing form containing information relating to a remote conferencing session and including coded data indicative of an identity of the conferencing form and of at least one reference point of the conferencing form;

at least one recipient conferencing form remote from said conferencing form and containing information representative of the at least one parameter and including recipient coded data indicative of an identity of the recipient conferencing form and of at least one reference point of the recipient conferencing form; and

a computer system for;

associating the identity of the conferencing form with a description;

causing the conferencing form to be printed by printing the information and the coded data;

receiving, indicating data from a sensing device operated by a conference participant involved in the conference session, said indicating data regarding the identity of the conferencing form and a position of the sensing device relative to the conferencing form, the sensing device, when placed in an operative position relative to the conferencing form, sensing at least some of the coded data and generating the indicating data using at least some of the sensed coded data;

identifying from the indicating data, the at least one parameter relating to the conferencing session;

associating an identity of a recipient conferencing form with the description, the identity of the recipient conferencing form being different to the identity of the conferencing form;

causing the recipient conferencing form to be printed by printing the information and the coded data;

receiving, recipient indicating data from a recipient sensing device operated by another conference participant involved in the conference session, said recipient indicating data regarding the identity of the recipient conferencing form and a position of the recipient sensing device relative to the recipient conferencing form, the recipient sensing device, when placed in an operative position relative to the recipient conferencing form, sensing at least some of the recipient coded data and generating the recipient indicating data using at least some of the sensed recipient coded data; and

generating a “

tree”

of versions of the conferencing form, wherein the indicating data is used to create a first version of the conferencing form associated with the identity of the conferencing form and the recipient indicating data is used to create a second version of the conferencing form associated with the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

28. The system of claim 27 in which said at least one parameter relating to the conferencing session is associated with at least one zone of the conferencing form.

29. The system of claim 27, the sensing device sensing its movement relative to the conferencing form, using at least some of the coded data.

33. The system of claim 27 or claim 30 in which said at least one parameter of the conference session is selected from the group comprising an action parameter of the conference session, an option parameter of the conference session, a text parameter of the conference session, an authorization parameter of the conference session, and a graphical parameter of the conference session.

34. The system of claim 33 in which the action parameter of the conference session is selected from the group comprising:

sending an invitation to a conference session;

starting a conference session;

ending a conference session;

viewing the history of a conference session;

sending a message to a participant during a conference session;

viewing messages sent during a conference session;

ordering the printing of a palette of available line styles and colors;

ordering the printing of a new whiteboard page;

updating a whiteboard page; and

ordering the reprinting of a whiteboard page.

35. The system of claim 33 in which the option parameter is associated with at least one of:

an access level;

a message recipient;

a line style; and

a line color.

36. The system of claim 33 in which the text parameter is associated with at least one of:

a session description;

a conference start date;

a start time;

an end time;

a participant identification;

a conference session purpose;

a message subject description; and

a message text.

37. The system of claim 33 in which the authorization parameter is associated with updating a whiteboard page.

38. The system of claim 33 in which the graphical parameter is associated with a markup to a whiteboard page.

39. The system of claim 27 or claim 30 in which the sensing device includes a marling nib.

40. The system of claim 29 or 30 in which the sensing device contains an identification means which imparts a unique identity to the sensing device and identifies it as being associated with a particular conference participant.

41. The system of claim 27 or claim 30 in which the conferencing form is printed on paper.

42. The system of claim 41 in which the printer prints the coded data on the paper at the same time as printing the conferencing form on the paper.

43. The system of claim 27 or claim 30 in which the coded data is substantially invisible in the visible spectrum.

44. The system of claim 27 which includes a database for keeping a retrievable record of each conferencing form generated, each conferencing form being retrievable by using its identity as included in its coded data.

45. The system of claim 41 in which, to cater for a conferencing form printed on multiple pages, the printer includes a binding means for binding the pages.

46. The system of claim 27 or claim 30, including a telephone communication means for simultaneous use during the remote conferencing session.

48. The system of claim 27 or 30, wherein the “

tree”

of versions branches when the first version of the conferencing form is modifed after the second version of the conferencing form is created.

50. The system of claim 48, wherein each version in the “

tree”

of versions records the date and time the version was created, the conference participant who made markups on the version, and contents of the markups.

52. The system of claim 48, wherein the “

tree”

of versions is printed on a conferencing form using thumbnail images.

63. A system according to claim 27, wherein the computer system is for, causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the description and at least one of:

the indicating data; and

,

the recipient indicating data.

64. A system according to claim 27, wherein the computer system is for:

determining, from the indicating data, at least one value relating to the at least one parameter;

determining, from the recipient indicating data, at least one recipient value relating to the at least one parameter; and

,

generating a tree of versions by storing the at least one value associated with the identity of the conferencing form and by storing the at least one recipient value associated with the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

65. A system according to claim 64, wherein the computer system is for, causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the description and at least one of:

the at least one value; and

,

the at least one recipient value.

66. A system according to claim 27, wherein the computer system is for:

receiving, from a sensing device, version data indicative of a version of the conferencing form; and

,

causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the version data.

67. A system according to claim 66, wherein the computer system is for, identifying from the version data at least one of:

the identity of the conferencing form; and

,

the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

68. A system according to claim 33, wherein the computer system is for, causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the description and at least one of:

the indicating data; and

,

the recipient indicating data.

69. A system according to claim 33, wherein the computer system is for:

determining, from the indicating data, at least one value relating to the at least one parameter;

determining, from the recipient indicating data, at least one recipient value relating to the at least one parameter; and

,

generating a tree of versions by storing the at least one value associated with the identity of the conferencing form and by storing the at least one recipient value associated with the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

70. A system according to claim 69, wherein the computer system is for, causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the description and at least one of:

the at least one value; and

,

the at least one recipient value.

71. A system according to claim 33, wherein the computer system is for:

receiving, from a sensing device, version data indicative of a version of the conferencing form; and

,

causing a version of the conferencing form to be printed using the version data.

72. A system according to claim 33, wherein the computer system is for, identifying from the version data at least one of:

the identity of the conferencing form; and

,

the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

30. A system for enabling remote conferencing between conference participants, the system including:

at least one conferencing form containing information relating to a remote conferencing session and including coded data indicative of an identity of the conferencing form and at least one parameter of the remote conferencing session;

at least one recipient conferencing form remote from the conferencing form and containing information relating to a remote conferencing session and including recipient coded data indicative of an identity of the recipient conferencing form and at least one parameter of the remote conferencing session; and

a computer system for;

receiving, indicating data from a sensing device operated by a first conference participant, the indicating data being indicative of the identity of the conferencing form said at least one parameter and movement of the sensing device relative to the conferencing form, the sensing device, when moved relative to the conferencing form, sensing at least some of the coded data and generating the indicating data using at least some of the sensed coded data;

interpreting, said movement of the sensing device as it relates to said at least one parameter;

associating an identity of a recipient conferencing form with the description, the identity of the recipient conferencing form being different to the identity of the conferencing form;

causing the recipient conferencing form to be printed by printing the information and the coded data;

receiving, recipient indicating data from a recipient sensing device operated by a second conference participant, the recipient indicating data being indicative of the identity of the recipient conferencing form said at least one parameter and movement of the recipient sensing device relative to the recipient conferencing form, the recipient sensing device, when moved relative to the recipient conferencing form, sensing at least some of the recipient coded data and generating the data recipient indicating using at least some of the sensed recipient coded data; and

generating a “

tree”

of versions of the conferencing form, wherein the indicating data is used to create a first version of the conferencing form associated with the identity of the conferencing form and the recipient indicating data is used to create a second version of the conferencing form associated with the identity of the recipient conferencing form.

31. The system of claim 30 in which said at least one parameter relating to the conferencing session is associated with at least one zone of the conferencing form.

32. The system of claim 30 including the sensing device.