Virtual flip chart method and apparatus

• US 7,834,819 B2
• Filed: 04/01/2004
• Issued: 11/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Steelcase Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Polyvision Corporation (Steelcase Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hildebrandt, Peter W., Dunn, Michael H., Hutchinson, Ian G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hjerpe; Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sheng; Tom V
• Application Number:
  US10/816,537
• Publication Number:
  US 20050219225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,420 Days
• Field of Search: 345/1.1, 345/2.1, 345/3.1, 345/173, 345/184, 345/2.2, 434/408, 434/411, 434/412, 434/416, 434/428, 715/761
• US Class Current: 345/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/60 Rotation of whole images or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/06 with both visual and audible presentation of the material to be studied
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/006 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a display terminal using a CRT G09G1/167; using a flat panel G09G3/2096; circuits for interfacing with colour displays G09G5/04

Abstract

A presentation method and system for presenting information to an audience within a space that mimics a flip chart assembly, the system including a control interface, a communication network and a master presentation unit including a processor and a master display screen, the master screen juxtaposed within the space so as to be viewable by the audience within the space, the processor operable to transmit an image displayed on the master screen over the network upon user command and a slave presentation unit including a slave presenter operable to receive and present an image to the audience within the space that is transmitted by the master unit to the slave unit over the network such that the master unit can be used to create a new image while the first image is simultaneously presented.

Claims

1. A presentation system for presenting information to an audience within a space, the system comprising:

a communication network;

a control interface;

a master presentation unit including a processor and a master display screen, the master screen juxtaposed within the space so as to be viewable by the audience within the space, the processor operable to transmit an image displayed on the master screen over the network upon user command issued via the control interface; and

at least a first slave presentation unit including a first slave image presenter operable to receive and present images that are transmitted by the master unit to the first slave unit over the network to the audience within the space;

wherein, when an image is transmitted from the master unit to a slave unit, the image is correlated with a slave unit identifier and is stored in a memory as an image-unit set persistently until the image is no longer presented via the slave presentation unit.

2. The system of claim 1 further including at least a second slave presentation unit including a second slave image presenter operable to receive and present images to the audience within the space that are transmitted by the master unit to the second slave unit over the network.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the control interface is useable to indicate when an image presented on the master screen is to be transmitted to one of the slave units and also for indicating which of the slave units the image should be transmitted to.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the master unit provides at least two buttons that are selectable by a system user to indicate which of the slave units to which an image presented on the master screen is to be transmitted.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein, after an indication is received that an image is to be transmitted to a slave unit, the processor removes the image to be transmitted from the master display.

6. The system of claim 2 wherein each of the slave presentation units includes a slave presentation surface for presenting images transmitted thereto.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the scale of each of the presentation surfaces is substantially similar to the scale of the master display screen.

8. The system of claim 1 further including an augment interface by which a presenter may augment an image presented on the master screen.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the augment interface senses when a system user performs an activity intended to touch the master screen and performs an associated activity.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the associated activity includes one of adding information to the screen and erasing information from the screen.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the slave image presenter includes a large scale printer assembly having a roll member, a print applicator and a motivator, the applicator generating images transmitted to the slave unit on a presentation surface of the roll member and the motivator unrolling the roll member so that the presentation surface is viewable by the audience within the space.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the roll member includes a sheet of paper.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the scale of the image printed via the print applicator is substantially similar to the scale of the image presented on the master display.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the master display screen has display width and display height dimensions, the paper has a paper width dimension substantially similar to the display width dimension and wherein the motivator unrolls the roll such that a paper length unrolled is substantially similar to the display height dimension.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein, when the applicator generates an image, a unique identifier is applied proximate the printed image and the processor stores the printed image along with the unique identifier as an identifier-image set.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein, after at least one identifier-image set is stored, the processor monitors the control interface for a retrieve indication that the image associated with a unique identifier is to be retrieved and, when a retrieve indication is received, the processor accesses the identifier-image set corresponding to the identifier indicated by the retrieve indication and presents the image associated with the accessed identifier-image set via the master screen.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the presentation surface is an erasable surface and wherein the applicator applies erasable ink to the presentation surface.

18. The system of claim 17 further including an eraser assembly for, when a new image is transmitted to the slave unit while an existing image is presented on the presentation surface, erasing at least a portion of the existing image prior to generating the new image on presentation surface.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein, when an image is transmitted to the slave unit, the processor erases the image from the master screen.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein the master unit includes the control interface.

21. The system of claim 20 further including an augment interface by which a presenter may augment images presented on the master screen.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the augment interface includes an assembly for identifying interactive activity on the master screen.

23. The system of claim 1 wherein the control interface is separate from the master unit.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the control interface is a hand held device and wherein the control interface communicates with the master unit via wireless communication.

25. The system of claim 23 wherein the control interface includes a display and wherein information presented via the master screen is identical to the information presented via the control interface display.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein edits to information on the control interface are immediately observable by the audience via the master display screen.

27. The system of claim 1 wherein the communication network includes a wireless communication system.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the master unit includes a wireless transmitter and the slave unit includes a wireless receiver.

29. The system of claim 1 wherein the control interface is further useable to indicate when an image presented via a slave presenter should be displayed on the master screen and the processor displays the image that is presented via the slave information presenter via the master screen when such an indication is received, wherein, the indication that an image presented via a slave presenter should be displayed via the master screen specifies the identifier of the specific slave unit presenting the image to be displayed on the master screen, when the indication is received, the processor using the slave unit specified by the indication to access the image in a specific image-unit set to be displayed by the master.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein at least one of the master unit and the slave unit includes the memory.

31. The system of claim 1 wherein the control interface includes a store function whereby, when the store function is selected, the processor identifies the images currently presented on the master screen and the slave presenter, correlates the identified images with the presenting units and stores the correlated images and units as image unit sets for subsequent access and subsequent simultaneous presentation.

32. The system of claim 31 wherein, when the store function is selected, all of the images on the master screen and the slave presenter are erased from the respective presenters.

33. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the master unit and the slave units includes a presentation surface that is substantially vertically oriented.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein each of the master screen and the presentation surfaces has a width dimension that is greater than two feet and has a height dimension that is greater than two feet.

35. The system of claim 1 wherein the slave presenter presents images adjacent the master screen.

36. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the slave units includes a pull-out window shade style roller surface member that is reversibly extendable.

37. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the slave units includes a pull-out accordion style roller surface member that is reversibly extendable.

38. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the slave units includes a pull-out endless loop style roller surface member that is reversibly extendable.

39. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the slave units includes a pull-out drop-loop style roller surface member that is reversibly extendable.

40. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the slave units is wall mounted and wherein the master unit is floor supported.

41. A presentation system for presenting information to an audience within a space, the system comprising:

a communication network; and

a plurality of presentation units, each presentation unit positioned to present images to the audience within the space, at least one of the presentation units being a master unit including a processor and a display screen, the processor operable to transmit images displayed on the display screen over the network to another one of the presentation units upon user command, each of the other presentation units operable to receive and present images to the audience within the space that are transmitted by the master unit to the other unit over the network;

wherein, when an image is transmitted form the master unit to one of the other units, the image is stored in a memory that associates the image with a unique identifier persistently until the image is no longer presented via the slave presentation unit.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein each of the other presentation units includes a presentation surface on which the images are presented and wherein each of the screen and presentation surfaces has substantially similar dimensions.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein height and width dimensions of each of the screen and the presentation units are greater than two feet and two feet, respectively.

44. The system of claim 42 wherein each of the screen and the presentation surfaces is substantially vertically oriented.

45. The system of claim 41 wherein the unique identifier is a unique image identifier.

46. The system of claim 45 wherein, when one of the other units presents an image transmitted thereto by the master unit, the unique image identifier is indicated in a manner that associates the image identifier with the presented image.

47. The system of claim 46 wherein the identifier is indicated by presenting the identifier with the presented image.

48. The system of claim 41 wherein the stored image is re-accessible and re-presentable via the master unit by specifying the unique image identifier associated therewith.

49. The system of claim 41 wherein the user command indicates a specific one of the other presentation units to which the image is to be transmitted and wherein the unit identifier is a unique presentation unit identifier indicating the other presentation unit to which the image on the master screen is to be transmitted.

50. The system of claim 49 wherein each of the other units is associated with a specific unit identifier and wherein the unit identifiers are presented by each of the other units in a manner that is observable by the system user.

51. The system of claim 50 wherein the unit identifiers are printed on each of the other units.

52. A method for use with a plurality of image presenting units within a space wherein each of the presenting units is positioned so that an audience within the space can observe images presented by the unit, the method for managing presented images and comprising the steps of:

providing a control interface;

presenting images via each of the presenting units, the image presented by each of the presenting units being a unit specific image;

monitoring the control interface for an indication that the presented images should be stored;

when an indication is received that the presented images should be stored;

for each presenting unit, correlating the unit specific image presented with a unit identifier to form an image-unit set; and

storing the image-unit sets for all of the units as a session image set.

53. The method of claim 52 further including the step of, when an indication is received that the presented images are to be stored, erasing the unit specific images from the presenting units.

54. The method of claim 52 further including the step of, at a subsequent time, monitoring the control interface for a resume command and, when a resume command is received, accessing the stored session image set and presenting the unit specific images in each image-unit set via the unit indicated in the associated image-unit set.

55. The method of claim 52 wherein, when an indication is received that the presented images should be stored, the method further includes the steps of, prior to storing the session image set, assigning a session identifier to the session image set and storing the set along with the session identifier.

56. The method of claim 55 wherein the step of assigning includes assigning a random identifier to the session and presenting the random identifier via one of the presenting units.

57. The method of claim 55 wherein the step of assigning includes receiving a session identifier from a system user.

58. The method of claim 55 further including the step of, at a subsequent time, monitoring the control interface for a resume command and, when a resume command is received, monitoring for a session identifier and, when a session identifier is received, accessing the stored session image set associated with the received session identifier and presenting the unit specific images in each image-unit set in the session set via the unit indicated in the associated image-unit set.

59. A method for use with a master presentation unit, at least a first slave presentation unit, a communication network and a control interface, the master unit including a processor and a master display screen and the slave unit including a slave presenter, the method for presenting images to an audience within a space, the method comprising the steps of:

locating the master display screen within the space so as to be viewable by the audience within the space;

locating the slave presenter within the space so that an image generated thereby will be viewable by the audience within the space;

monitoring the control interface for an indication that an image presented on the master screen should be presented via the slave presenter;

when an indication is received that the image presented on the master screen should be presented via the slave presenter, transmitting the image presented on the master screen to the slave unit for presentation via the communication network; and

after an indication that an image presented on the master screen should be presented via the slave presenter, storing the image in a memory that associates the image with a unique identifier persistently until the image is no longer presented via the slave presentation unit.

60. The method of claim 59 further including the step of, after transmitting to the slave unit, presenting the transmitted image via the slave presenter.

61. The method of claim 60 further including the step of, after an indication is received that the image presented on the master screen should be presented via the slave presenter, rendering the image on the master screen unobservable.

62. The method of claim 60 also for use with at least a second slave presentation unit including a second slave presenter, the control interface useable to indicate a specific one of the slave presenters to which an image presented via the master presenter is to be transmitted, the method further including the step of, when an indication is received to transmit the image from the master unit, determining which of the slave units to which to transmit the master image.

63. The method of claim 59 wherein the control interface is useable to augment images presented on the master screen and, wherein, the method further includes monitoring the interface for augmenting activity and, when augmenting activity is identified, augmenting the master image accordingly.

64. The method of claim 59 wherein the unique identifier is a unique image identifier.

65. The method of claim 64 further including the step of, after transmitting to the slave unit, presenting the transmitted image via the slave presenter and, wherein, the method further includes the steps of, when the slave unit presents an image transmitted thereto by the master unit, the slave unit indicates the unique image identifier in a manner that associates the image identifier with the presented image.

66. The method of claim 65 wherein the identifier is indicated by presenting the identifier with the presented image.

67. The method of claim 59 further including the steps of, after an image is stored, monitoring the interface for an indication that the image associated with the unique identifier should be re-accessed and re-presented via the master screen and, when an indication to re-present is received, presenting the image via the master screen.

68. The method of claim 67 wherein, when an image presented via the slave presenter is re-presented via the master screen, the image is rendered unobservable via the slave unit.

69. The method of claim 59 wherein the step of monitoring the input interface for an indication that an image presented on the master screen should be presented via the slave presenter includes monitoring for a command indicating a specific one of the slave units to which the image is to be transmitted and wherein the unique identifier is a unique presentation unit identifier indicating the slave unit to which the image on the master screen is to be transmitted.

70. The system of claim 69 wherein each of the slave units is associated with a specific unit identifier and wherein each of the slave units presents its identifier in a manner that is observable by the system user.

71. The system of claim 70 wherein the unit identifier associated with each of the slave units is printed on the associated slave unit.

72. The method of claim 59 further including the step of monitoring the interface for a store indication indicating that images currently presented on the master screen and the slave presenter are to be stored for subsequent use and, when a store indication is received, identifying the images currently presented on the master screen and the slave presenter, correlating the identified images with the presenting units presenting the images and storing the correlated images and units as image-unit sets.

73. The system of claim 72 wherein, when the store indication is received, the method includes erasing all of the images on the master screen and the slave presenter.

74. The method of claim 73 further including the steps of monitoring the interface for a resume indication indicating that previously stored images are to be re-presented, when a resume indication is received, accessing the image-unit sets and presenting the accessed images via the associated units as specified by the image-unit sets.

75. A presentation system for presenting information to an audience within a space, system comprising:

a communication network;

a control interface;

a master presentation unit including a processor and a master display screen, the master screen juxtaposed within the space so as to be viewable by the audience within the space;

at least a first slave presentation unit including a first slave image presenter operable to receive and present images that are transmitted by the master unit to the first slave unit over the network to the audience within the space; and

the processor operable to transmit an image displayed on the master screen over the network upon user command via the control interface to the first slave unit;

wherein, when an image is transmitted from the master unit to a slave unit, the image is correlated with a slave unit identifier and is stored in a memory as an image-unit set persistently until the image is no longer presented via the slave presentation unit.

76. The system of claim 75 further including at least a second slave presentation unit including a second slave image presenter operable to receive and present images to the audience within the space that are transmitted by the processor to the second slave unit over the network.

77. The system of claim 76 wherein the control interface is useable to an image presented on the master screen is to be transmitted to one of the slave units and also for indicating which of the slave units the image should be transmitted to.

78. The system of claim 77 wherein the control interface provides at least two buttons that are selectable by a system user to indicate which of the slave units to which an image presented on the master screen is to be transmitted.

79. The system of claim 78 wherein, after an indication is received that an image is to be transmitted to a slave unit, the processor removes the image to be transmitted from the master display.

80. The system of claim 75 further including an augment interface by which a presenter may augment an image presented on the master screen.

81. The system of claim 80 wherein the augment interface senses when a system user performs an activity intended to interact with the master screen and performs an associated activity.

82. The system of claim 75 wherein, when an image is transmitted to the slave unit, the processor erases the image from the master screen.

83. The system of claim 75 wherein the master unit includes the control the processor.

84. The system of claim 75 wherein the control interface and processor are the master unit.

85. The system of claim 84 wherein the control interface is a hand held the processor and wherein the control interface communicates with the master unit via wireless communication.

86. The system of claim 85 wherein the control interface includes a display and wherein information presented via the master screen is identical to the information presented via at least a portion of the control interface display.

87. The system of claim 86 wherein edits to information on the control interface are immediately observable by the audience via the master display screen.

88. The system of claim 75 wherein the communication network includes a wireless communication system.

89. The system of claim 75 wherein, the indication that an image presented via a slave presenter should be displayed via the master screen specifies the identifier of the specific slave unit presenting the image to be displayed on the master screen, when the indication is received, the processor using the slave unit specified by the indication to access the image in a specific image-unit set to be displayed by the master.