Interactive media server
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for delivering a media stream to a group of viewer clients, comprising the steps of:
- sampling multiple virtual camera view requests from multiple view clients to group similar but different virtual camera view requests together into a new group of virtual camera view requests, a virtual camera view request only being considered for inclusion in said new group of virtual camera view requests if received within a specific designated time interval;
mapping said new group of virtual camera view requests into one consolidated virtual camera view request based on similarities of said virtual camera view requests included in said new group of virtual camera view requests;
generating, before delivering, a responsive single media stream designated by said one consolidated virtual camera view request; and
delivering said responsive single media stream to the view clients that made at least one of said virtual camera view requests included in said new group of virtual camera view requests,wherein the virtual camera view requests specify pan, tilt and zoom parameters for viewing a media stream.
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Abstract
A system and method for distributing image sequences to multiple clients according to individual or grouped client requests. In a preferred embodiment, an innovative media server includes image processing nodes which modify an image sequence as received from a wide-angle source, according to a request from a client or client characteristics. Requests can be grouped and/or compressed so as to reduce necessary bandwidth.
58 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for delivering a media stream to a group of viewer clients, comprising the steps of:
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sampling multiple virtual camera view requests from multiple view clients to group similar but different virtual camera view requests together into a new group of virtual camera view requests, a virtual camera view request only being considered for inclusion in said new group of virtual camera view requests if received within a specific designated time interval; mapping said new group of virtual camera view requests into one consolidated virtual camera view request based on similarities of said virtual camera view requests included in said new group of virtual camera view requests; generating, before delivering, a responsive single media stream designated by said one consolidated virtual camera view request; and delivering said responsive single media stream to the view clients that made at least one of said virtual camera view requests included in said new group of virtual camera view requests, wherein the virtual camera view requests specify pan, tilt and zoom parameters for viewing a media stream. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for distributing wide-angle image sequences from a wide-angle device, comprising the steps of:
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receiving virtual camera view requests for media streams from one or more viewer clients; generating, before outputting, a limited number of media streams at a media server capable of distributing ones of the media streams to multiple viewer clients; and outputting a media stream in response to one or more different virtual camera view requests using an image processor node to process said output media stream, said output media stream being derived from a live wide-angle real time camera view modified according to characteristics of said one or more different virtual camera view requests and one or more viewer clients corresponding to said one or more different virtual camera view requests, said characteristics sent to the media server by a corresponding viewer client in a message, said characteristics including whether said corresponding viewer client gets interactive views, said one or more different virtual camera view requests comprising sequence processing instructions, said characteristics and said instructions used at least in part to map said one or more different virtual camera view requests into consolidated virtual camera view requests based on similarities between said one or more different virtual camera view requests, ones of said consolidated virtual camera view requests generating corresponding single responsive media streams, wherein the virtual camera view requests specify pan, tilt and zoom parameters for viewing said real time camera view. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for outputting a media stream from a wide-angle device, comprising the steps of:
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outputting at least one media stream modified from a live wide-angle camera view responsive to virtual camera view requests, wherein the virtual camera view requests originate from multiple viewer clients and said at least one media stream is modified according to characteristics of the viewer clients, said virtual camera view requests being transmitted from the individual clients in a message for use in modifying the at least one media stream for receipt; generating a limited number of media streams to distribute each of multiple media streams to multiple viewer clients, wherein at least some virtual camera view requests that are different from each other are grouped together according to similarity to output, before distributing, a separate common media stream to each individual group, modified at least in part according to the transmitted viewer client characteristics; and providing directionally enhanced sound according to said virtual camera view request, wherein the virtual camera view request is directed toward a portion of a view from the wide-angle camera view, the directionally enhanced sound emphasizing sounds associated with the portion and de-emphasizing sounds not associated with the portion, wherein the virtual camera view requests specify pan, tilt and zoom parameters for viewing said live wide-angle camera view. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification