Visual audio quality cues and context awareness in a virtual collaboration session

• US 9,329,833 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2013
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Swierk, Todd, Gatson, Michael S., Shepherd, Jason A., Barker, Clifton J., Lo, Yuan-Chang
• Primary Examiner(s): Chawan, Vijay B
• Application Number:
  US14/136,690
• Publication Number:
  US 20150179186A1
• Time in Patent Office: 865 Days
• Field of Search: 704/276, 704/E19.001, 704/E19.002, 704/270, 704/23, 370/252, 370/260, 340/463, 348/180, 381/94.1, 381/94.2, 709/224, 709/207
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/60 for measuring the quality of voice signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/12 Network monitoring probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/352 In-call/conference information service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2227 Quality of service monitoring

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing visual audio quality cues and context awareness in a virtual collaboration session. In some embodiments, a method may include receiving a plurality of audio signals, each audio signal captured from one of a plurality of a participants of a virtual collaboration session; determining, for each of the plurality of participants, a voice quality of the participant'"'"'s audio signal; and providing a visual cue of the voice quality of each participant'"'"'s audio signal to at least one of the plurality of participants.

Claims

1. An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by the processor, cause the IHS to;

receive a plurality of audio signals, each audio signal captured from one of a plurality of participants of a virtual collaboration session;

determine, for each of the plurality of participants, a voice quality of the participant'"'"'s audio signal;

provide a visual cue of the voice quality of each participant'"'"'s audio signal to at least one of the plurality of participants;

determine that a given participant'"'"'s audio signal includes a component not intended to be shared with other participants of the virtual collaboration session;

provide a warning to the given participant; and

use a given participant'"'"'s action in response to the warning as part of a self-learning process.

2. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the virtual collaboration session includes a conference call or a whiteboarding session.

3. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the voice quality includes a mean opinion score (MOS).

4. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the voice quality includes a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measurement.

5. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of participants includes a moderator or organizer of the virtual collaboration session.

6. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the visual cue includes an icon, shape, or color indicative of the voice quality.

7. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to:

determine that the voice quality of the given participant'"'"'s corresponding audio signal fails to meets a threshold value; and

in response to the determination, make a suggestion to the at least one of the plurality of participants that the given participant be muted during the virtual collaboration session.

8. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to:

provide a visual cue of the voice quality of the given participant'"'"'s audio signal to the given participant, wherein the visual cue includes an icon, shape, or color indicative of the voice quality, and wherein the audio signal is captured using a microphone;

determine that the voice quality of the given participant'"'"'s audio signal fails to meets a threshold value; and

allow the given participant to mute the microphone during the virtual collaboration session.

9. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the warning is provided to the given participant using a communication medium distinct from the virtual collaboration session.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving, at an Information Handling System (IHS), an audio signal captured from a participant of a virtual collaboration session, wherein the virtual collaboration session includes a conference call or a whiteboarding session; and

determining whether the audio signal includes a component not intended to be shared with other participants of the virtual collaboration session;

providing a muting instruction to the participant; and

using a participant'"'"'s manual muting of a microphone in response to the instruction as part of a self-learning process.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing the muting instruction using a communication medium distinct from the virtual collaboration session.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the component includes ambient noise in the participant'"'"'s environment.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the component includes the participant'"'"'s spoken voice.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein determining whether the audio signal includes the component further comprises detecting a physical proximity of the participant to the IHS.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein determining whether the audio signal includes the component further comprises determining a head orientation of the participant.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein determining whether the audio signal includes the component further comprises identifying a gesture made by the participant during the virtual collaboration session.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising in response to a determination that the audio signal includes the component, causing an instruction to be provided to another participant of the virtual collaboration session to mute the participant.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by an Information Handling System (IHS), cause the IHS to:

receive an audio signal captured from a participant of a virtual collaboration session;

identify at least one of;

context of the audio signal or a gesture made by the participant during the virtual collaboration session;

modify a manner in which the audio signal is provided to other participants of the virtual collaboration session based, at least in part, upon the context

determine that the participant'"'"'s audio signal includes a component not intended to be shared with other participants of the virtual collaboration session;

provide a message to the participant using a communication medium distinct from the virtual collaboration session; and

use a participant'"'"'s action in response to the message as part of a self-learning process.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the gesture includes an at least partial covering of the participant'"'"'s mouth with his or her hands, and to modify the manner in which the audio signal is provided to the other participants, the program instructions, upon execution by the IHS, further cause the IHS to mute the participant'"'"'s audio signal;

or wherein the gesture includes a cupped hand around the participant'"'"'s ear, and to modify the manner in which the audio signal is provided to the other participants, the program instructions, upon execution by the IHS, further cause the IHS to unmute the participant'"'"'s audio signal.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein to identify the context, the program instructions, upon execution by the IHS, further cause the IHS to determine a quality of the participant'"'"'s network connection, and to modify the manner in which the audio signal is provided to the other participants, the program instructions, upon execution by the IHS, further cause the IHS to mute the participant'"'"'s audio signal if the quality of the participant'"'"'s network connection is below a threshold value.