User-aware collaboration playback and recording

• US 7,945,622 B1
• Filed: 10/01/2008
• Issued: 05/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Pegg, Nigel
• Primary Examiner(s): Chea; Philip J
• Application Number:
  US12/243,819
• Time in Patent Office: 958 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/206, 715/753
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Various embodiments include one or more of systems, methods, software, and data structures for user-aware time-shifted playback and recording of real-time collaborations, such as web conferences. Some embodiments include recording and presenting public and private collaboration data for time-shifted playback. Private collaboration data includes collaboration data intended for viewing by less than all collaboration participants. Further systems, methods, software, and data structures are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

initiating a collaboration session over a computer network between a plurality of participants;

exchanging, over the computer network, private data between a subset of the participants through the collaboration session;

exchanging, over the computer network, public data between the plurality of participants;

storing, on a data storage device, the collaboration session, including the private data and the public data;

receiving, over the computer network, a request to playback the stored collaboration session;

in response to the request, presenting, over the network, a playback of the collaboration session, the playback of the collaboration session including all public data and the private data only when presented to one of the subset of participants, wherein the public and private data include data identifying a module or application involved in the collaboration session and an action to be replicated within the identified module or application of a computing environment to which the playback of the collaboration session is provided, the data identifying the action to be replicated, during playback, comprising input to the identified module or application to cause the identified action to be replicated.

2. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the exchanged private data, when received, includes user identifiers of a plurality of collaboration participants, the user identifiers defining the subset of the participants.

3. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the subset of participants includes three or more participants.

4. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the request to playback the stored collaboration session is received at a time other than when data of the collaboration session is originally exchanged.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, with instructions stored thereon that are executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to:

store received collaboration data of a collaboration session, the collaboration data including public data and private data, the private data including data identifying at least one collaboration session participant authorized to view the private data;

receive, from a requestor, a request to view the collaboration session, the request including data identifying the requestor; and

retrieve and send to the requestor all of the public collaboration data and only private collaboration data the requestor is authorized to view as a function of the data identifying the requestor, wherein the public and private data include data identifying a module or application involved in the collaboration session and an action to be replicated within the identified module or application of a computing environment to which the playback of the collaboration session is provided, the data identifying the action to be replicated, during playback, comprising input to the identified module or application to cause the identified action to be replicated.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein sending the public and private collaboration data to the requestor includes streaming the collaboration data to the requestor.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein:

the data identifying at least one collaboration session participant authorized to view the private data includes data identifying a group of participants;

the retrieving and sending of the public and private collaboration data to the requestor as a function of the data identifying the requestor comprises;

identifying groups the requestor is a member of and retrieving collaboration data the requestor is explicitly allowed view and is allowed to view as a member of the identified groups.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, with instructions operable to cause a computing device to:

receive first input to join a collaboration session facilitated by a collaboration service of a remote server on a network, the collaboration session already in progress;

receive collaboration data of the collaboration session over the network from the collaboration service, the collaboration data including public collaboration data and private collaboration data;

receive second input to rewind a view of the collaboration session to a time location prior to when the collaboration session was joined;

request collaboration data over the network from the collaboration service beginning at the time location;

receive the collaboration data beginning at the time location over the network, the collaboration data including public and private collaboration data, wherein the public and the private data include data identifying a module or application involved in the collaboration session and an action to be replicated within the identified module or application, the data identifying the action to be replicated, during playback, comprising input to the identified module or application to cause the identified action to be replicated; and

presenting the received collaboration data beginning at the time location, the presenting performed by replicating actions identified in the public and private data within respective modules or applications identified in the public and private data.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the private collaboration data comprises collaboration data with viewing restrictions limiting viewing to less than all potential viewers of the collaboration session.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, with further instructions operable to cause the computing device to:

receive a third input to pause the presenting of the received collaboration data; and

pausing the presenting of the received collaboration data.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, with further instructions operable to cause the computing device to:

receive a third input designating a playback speed of the collaboration data received in response to the second input,

wherein presenting the received collaboration data includes presenting the received collaboration data at the designated playback speed.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, with further instructions operable to cause the computing device to:

when presenting the received collaboration data at the designated playback speed, switch to a live mode of presenting the received collaboration data upon reaching a forward edge of a live collaboration session.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, with further instructions operable to cause the computing device to:

receive a fourth input while in the live mode of presenting the received collaboration data, the fourth input including collaboration session input; and

transmit data representative of the fourth input to the collaboration service to forward to other collaboration session participants.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the collaboration session input of the fourth input includes text of a text-based message.