Method and apparatus for virtual auditorium usable for a conference call or remote live presentation with audience response thereto
First Claim
1. A first station for use in a virtual auditorium, in which the first station is a first node, the first station comprising:
- an input, said input accepting a first signal comprising audio from a participant;
a connection to a network, said first station having a configuration to communicate with at least a second and third node through said network;
an output, said output presenting to said participant at least a portion of a second signal comprising audio, the second signal received from the second node, said output further presenting to said participant at least a portion of a third signal comprising audio, the third signal received from the third node; and
,a mixer, said mixer providing a fourth signal representative of at least the first and second signal, said first station sending the fourth signal to the third node, said mixer providing a fifth signal representative of at least the first and third signal, said first station sending the fifth signal to the second node;
wherein the configuration represents the position of the first node as being directly connected to the second and third nodes in a hierarchy and is provided by an organizing entity comprising a structured overlay network of which the first node is member, the structured overlay network comprising a distributed hash table, the configuration based on a query of the distributed hash table; and
,one of the second and third signals comprises at least a portion of a sixth audio signal from a fourth node in the hierarchy that is not directly connected in the hierarchy to the first node.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for providing a virtual auditorium for a remote, live performance to a remote, distributed audience, wherein the performers receive the reaction of the audience members in substantially real time. The live performance can itself be distributed geographically, as taught in the prior art, and may be multimedia in nature, for example audio (monophonic, stereo, or multi-channel) can be augmented by images, video, MIDI, text (e.g., commentary, lyrics), etc. Further, the distributed audience members can receive each other'"'"'s reaction, also in substantially real time, whereby the virtual auditorium is created wherein the distributed audience members constitute a virtual assembly.
The same virtual auditorium, sans performers, can be used as a venue to conduct a conference call of arbitrary size without the expense of a central voice bridge.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A first station for use in a virtual auditorium, in which the first station is a first node, the first station comprising:
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an input, said input accepting a first signal comprising audio from a participant; a connection to a network, said first station having a configuration to communicate with at least a second and third node through said network; an output, said output presenting to said participant at least a portion of a second signal comprising audio, the second signal received from the second node, said output further presenting to said participant at least a portion of a third signal comprising audio, the third signal received from the third node; and
,a mixer, said mixer providing a fourth signal representative of at least the first and second signal, said first station sending the fourth signal to the third node, said mixer providing a fifth signal representative of at least the first and third signal, said first station sending the fifth signal to the second node; wherein the configuration represents the position of the first node as being directly connected to the second and third nodes in a hierarchy and is provided by an organizing entity comprising a structured overlay network of which the first node is member, the structured overlay network comprising a distributed hash table, the configuration based on a query of the distributed hash table; and
,one of the second and third signals comprises at least a portion of a sixth audio signal from a fourth node in the hierarchy that is not directly connected in the hierarchy to the first node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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23. A method for providing a virtual auditorium comprising steps of:
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a) providing a first station to a participant, the first station having an input, an output, and a connection to a network; b) joining a structured overlay network having a plurality of stations, the structured overlay network comprising a distributed hash table; c) configuring the first station with the structured overlay network for communication with a portion of the plurality of stations based on a query of the distributed hash table, the portion of the plurality of stations being directly connected to the first station in a hierarchy; d) capturing a first signal from the participant with the input; e) sending at least a portion of said first signal to each directly connected station; f) receiving a corresponding second signal from each directly connected station, one of the second signals comprising at least a portion of a third signal received by the corresponding second station from a third station not directly connected to the first station in the hierarchy; g) providing at least a first portion of each second signal to the participant with the output; h) only when the first station is configured as a non-leaf node in the hierarchy, forwarding from the first station at least a second portion of each second signal to each of the correspondingly different directly connected stations; and
,wherein the sending (e) of the first signal and forwarding (h) of the second signals by the first station is together as a mix corresponding to each directly connected station; whereby when steps a)-h) are performed with respect to each participant the hierarchy produces the virtual auditorium. - View Dependent Claims (24, 30)
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31. A method for providing a virtual auditorium for a plurality of participants comprising:
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a) connecting a first computer to a plurality of second computers through a structured overlay network, the structured overlay network comprising a distributed hash table, the connecting based on a query of the distributed hash table, said first computer comprising an input for capturing audio from a first participant as a first signal, and an output for presenting audio to the first participant; b) configuring the first computer in a hierarchy managed using the structured overlay network to provide the first signal to at least one second computer related to the first computer as one of a parent and a child in the hierarchy; c) receiving a second signal from the at least one second computer; d) presenting the second signal to the first participant with the output; e) forwarding the second signal to each other second computer when the first computer is a non-leaf node in the hierarchy; wherein the second signal comprises at least a portion of a third signal from a third computer, the third computer not related to the first computer as one of a parent and a child in the hierarchy. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification