User interface for multiway audio conferencing

• US 7,499,969 B1
• Filed: 06/25/2004
• Issued: 03/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Christie, Gregory N., Forstall, Scott, van Os, Marcel
• Primary Examiner(s): Jacobs; Lashonda T
• Application Number:
  US10/877,493
• Time in Patent Office: 1,712 Days
• Field of Search: 709/231, 709/203, 709/204, 709/208, 709/217, 709/219, 709/242, 345/700, 345/716, 345/723, 345/751, 345/753
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/38 Displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15

Abstract

An audio conferencing client application provides a user interface that facilitates turn taking in both moderated and unmoderated audio conferences. The user interface provides each conference participant with the ability to set an icon that indicates a request to speak. This request state is propagated to the audio conferencing clients of all other participants, where each such audio conferencing client then displays a request icon associated with the requesting participant. Where multiple participants request to speak, their respective request icons can be numbered. In a moderated conference, a moderator can control which participants can speak, an make that decision in view of the outstanding requests and their order. The request icons can be dismissed either automatically or manually.

Claims

1. A user interface for an audio conferencing client application of a first participant, the audio conferencing client application executed by a computer to couple the application to an audio conference including an audio conferencing client application of at least one other participant, the user interface comprising:

a first user interface element configured to indicate a request to speak by the first participant, the audio conferencing client application configured to transmit an indicator of the request to speak to the audio conferencing client of each other participant, the indicator configured to be transmitted separately from an audio signal of the first participant'"'"'s speech; and

for each other participant, a second user interface element configured to be displayed in proximity to an identifier of the other participant in response to the audio conferencing client application receiving an indicator of the request to speak by the other participant from the audio conferencing client application of the other participant the second user interface element configured to be displayed separately from an output of an audio signal of the other participant'"'"'s speech.

2. The user interface of claim 1, where the user interface further comprises:

a numerical indicator associated with each second user interface element that indicates an order in which the audio conferencing client application of the first participant received the indicators of the requests to speak from the audio conferencing client applications of the other participants.

3. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the second user interface element is a flag icon.

4. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the second user interface element is removed from the user interface in response to the other participant speaking.

5. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the second user interface element is removed from the user interface in response, at least in part, to the other participant speaking for a minimum amount of time.

6. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the second user interface element is removed from the user interface automatically after a predetermined amount of time.

7. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the second user interface element is removed from the user interface by fading the user interface element.

8. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the second user interface element is displayed in response to other the participant making a continuous user input via an input device, and is removed in response to the participant terminating the user input via the input device.

9. The user interface of claim 1, further comprising:

for each other participant, a graphical indicator of speech activity of the other participant.

10. The user interface of claim 9, wherein the graphical indicator of speech activity is a graphical audio signal level meter configured to display a representation of a signal level of other participant'"'"'s speech.

11. The user interface of claim 1, further comprising:

a graphical indicator of speech activity of the first participant.

12. The user interface of claim 11, wherein the graphical indicator of speech activity is a graphical audio signal level meter configured to display a representation of a signal level of first participant'"'"'s speech.

13. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the audio conferencing client application is configured to output an audio signal in response receiving from the audio conferencing client application of another participant an indicator of the request to speak by the other participant.

43. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the second user interface element indicates association with the other participant requesting to speak.

14. A computer implemented method of providing an audio conferencing between a plurality of audio conferencing client applications, including a first audio conferencing client application of a first participant, and at least one second audio conferencing client application of a second participant, the method comprising:

receiving at the first audio conferencing client an indicator of a request to speak from the second audio conferencing client of the second participant, the indicator configured to be received separately from an audio signal of the second participant'"'"'s speech;

displaying in a user interface of the first audio conferencing client application, in proximity to an identifier of the second participant and in response to the received indicator, a user interface element indicating the second participant'"'"'s request to speak;

receiving at the first audio conferencing client, the audio signal comprising the second participant'"'"'s speech; and

outputting the received audio signal at the first audio conferencing client.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving from a plurality of second audio conferencing client applications of second participants, a respective plurality of request to speak indicators, the indicators received in an order; and

displaying in the user interface in association with each of the plurality of second participants, a numerical indicator associated with each user interface element that indicates the order in which the audio conferencing client application of the first participant received the indicators.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the user interface element is a flag icon.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

removing the user interface element from the user interface in response to a second participant speaking.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

removing the user interface element from the user interface in response, at least in part, to a second participant speaking for a minimum amount of time.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

removing the user interface element from the user interface after a predetermined amount of time.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

removing the user interface element from the user interface by fading the user interface element.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the user interface element is displayed in the user interface in response to a second participant making a continuous user input via an input device, and is removed from the user interface in response to the second participant terminating the user input via the input device.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

for each second participant, displaying a graphical indicator of speech activity of the second participant.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the graphical indicator of speech activity is a graphical audio signal level meter configured to display a representation of a signal level of second participant'"'"'s speech.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

displaying a graphical indicator of speech activity of the first participant.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the graphical indicator of speech activity is a graphical audio signal level meter configured to display a representation of a signal level of first participant'"'"'s speech.

26. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

outputting an audio signal in response receiving from a second audio conferencing client application of a second participant an indicator of the request to speak by the second participant.

27. A computer system for audio conferencing an audio conferencing client application of a first participant to an audio conference including an audio conferencing client application of a plurality of other participants, the system comprising:

a computer configured to execute an audio conferencing client application, the audio conferencing client application configured to display a first user interface element to indicate a request to speak by the first participant, the audio conferencing client application configured to transmit an indicator of the request to speak to an audio conferencing client application of the second participant, the indicator configured to be transmitted separately from an audio signal of the first participant'"'"'s speech to the audio conferencing client applications of the other participants, and further configured to display for each other participant, a second user interface element in proximity to an identifier of the other participant in response to the audio conferencing client application receiving from the audio conferencing client application of the other participant an indicator of the request to speak by the other participant, the second user interface element configured to be displayed separately from an output of an audio signal of the other participant'"'"'s speech.

28. A computer program product, comprising a computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for producing a user interface for an audio conferencing client application of a first participant, the audio conferencing client application executed by a computer to couple the application to an audio conference including an audio conferencing client application of at least one other participant, the user interface comprising:

a first user interface element configured to indicate a request to speak by the first participant, the audio conferencing client application configured to transmit an indicator of the request to speak to the audio conferencing client of each other participant, the indicator configured to be transmitted separately from an audio signal of the first participant'"'"'s speech; and

for each other participant, a second user interface element configured to be displayed in proximity to an identifier of the other participant in response to the audio conferencing client application receiving an indicator of the request to speak by the other participant from the audio conferencing client application of the other participant, the second user interface element configured to be displayed separately from an output of an audio signal of the other participant'"'"'s speech.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, where the user interface further comprises:

a numerical indicator associated with each second user interface element that indicates an order in which the audio conferencing client application of the first participant received the indicators of the requests to speak from the audio conferencing client applications of the other participants.

30. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the second user interface element is a flag icon.

31. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the second user interface element is removed from the user interface in response to the other participant speaking.

32. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the second user interface element is removed from the user interface in response, at least in part, to the other participant speaking for a minimum amount of time.

33. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the second user interface element is removed from the user interface automatically after a predetermined amount of time.

34. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the second user interface element is removed from the user interface by fading the user interface element.

35. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the second user interface element is displayed in response to other the participant making a continuous user input via an input device, and is removed in response to the participant terminating the user input via the input device.

36. The computer program product of claim 28, further comprising:

for each other participant, a graphical indicator of speech activity of the other participant.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the graphical indicator of speech activity is a graphical audio signal level meter configured to display a representation of a signal level of other participant'"'"'s speech.

38. The computer program product of claim 28, further comprising:

a graphical indicator of speech activity of the first participant.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the graphical indicator of speech activity is a graphical audio signal level meter configured to display a representation of a signal level of first participant'"'"'s speech.

40. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the audio conferencing client application is configured to output an audio signal in response receiving from the audio conferencing client application of another participant an indicator of the request to speak by the other participant.

41. A computer program product, comprising a computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for providing an audio conferencing between a plurality of audio conferencing client applications, including a first audio conferencing client application of a first participant, and at least one second audio conferencing client application of a second participant, the method comprising:

receiving at the first audio conferencing client an indicator of a request to speak from the second audio conferencing client of the second participant, the indicator configured to be received separately from an audio signal of the first participant'"'"'s speech;

displaying in a user interface of the first audio conferencing client application, in proximity to an identifier of the second participant and in response to the received indicator, a user interface element indicating the second participant'"'"'s request to speak;

receiving at the first audio conferencing client, an audio signal comprising the second participant'"'"'s speech; and

outputting the received audio signal at the first audio conferencing client.

42. A user interface for an audio conferencing client application of a first participant, the audio conferencing client application executed by a computer to couple the application to an audio conference including an audio conferencing client application of at least one other participant, the user interface comprising:

a first user interface element configured to indicate a request to speak by the first participant, the audio conferencing client application configured to transmit an indicator of the request to speak to the audio conferencing client of each other participant, the indicator configured to be transmitted with an audio signal of the first participant'"'"'s speech; and

for each other participant, a second user interface element configured to be displayed in proximity to an identifier of the other participant in response to the audio conferencing client application receiving an indicator of the request to speak by the other participant from the audio conferencing client application of the other participant, the second user interface element configured to be displayed separately from an output of an audio signal of the other participant'"'"'s speech.

44. A user interface for an audio conferencing client application of a first participant, the audio conferencing client application executed by a computer to couple the application to an audio conference including an audio conferencing client application of at least one other participant, the user interface comprising:

a request to speak icon configured to indicate a request to speak by the first participant, the audio conferencing client application configured to transmit an indicator of the request to speak to the audio conferencing client of each other participant, the indicator configured to be transmitted with an audio signal of the first participant'"'"'s speech;

for each other participant, a request icon in proximity to an identifier of the first participant in response to the audio conferencing client application receiving from the audio conferencing client application of the first participant an indicator of the request to speak, the request icon configured to be displayed in addition to the output of an audio signal of the first participant'"'"'s speech; and

for each other participant, the request icon associated with the first participant being configured to be removed once the first participant starts speaking.

45. A computer implemented method of providing an audio conferencing between a plurality of audio conferencing client applications, including a first audio conferencing client application of a first participant, and at least one second audio conferencing client application of a second participant, the method comprising:

receiving at the first audio conferencing client an indicator of a request to speak from the second audio conferencing client of the second participant and the audio signal comprising the second participant'"'"'s speech;

displaying in a user interface of the first audio conferencing client application, in proximity to an identifier of the second participant and in response to the received indicator, a user interface element indicating the second participant'"'"'s request to speak; and

outputting the received audio signal at the first audio conferencing client.